The Protonix Ghostbusters: Ghost of the Dragon
by Total Protonix Overload
Summary: The body dies, but the soul lives. Years after Malefor's defeat, Avalar has been at complete peace. But when the toxic substance of Black Slime invades the world, its up to the dragons and a unique team to discover the source of the slime and save everyone from all out annihilation while uncovering a mystery that's been following them. So the question now is, Who They Gonna Call?
1. Arc 1- Rise of the Slime

The Dark Master's body has been sealed away, but his soul remains. Now, hordes of his defeated army rise, as the Purple Legend and former Terror of the Skies can't handle this new threat. Ignitus and the Chronicler search for those who can help save the dragon realm.

Meanwhile in New York, it's business as usual for the Protonix Ghostbusters after experiencing the last multi-world threat.

But when a stranger walks into the firehouse asking for their aid, the team comes face to face with a task stranger than anything they've witnessed.

"Spyro, meet the Ghostbusters."

* * *

The Protonix Ghostbusters: Ghost of the Dragon

Chapter 1: Rise of the Slime

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _Warfang, sometime after Malefor's defeat._

As the night began to cover the lands, two figures flew across the star covered sky.

"Come on, Cynder! I want to meet them earlier!" yelled a purple and orange dragon.

Quickly a black mass zipped by, turning to show its deep emerald eyes.

"Nope!" She yelled back. As Cynder sped ahead, Spyro quickly surged forward.

The two young dragons weaved about in the air, feeling the wind rushing past their wings like the freedom and joy they've fought for.

It had been some time after the events that changed their lives, and for months they had lived in peace. The two legendaries had grown close together, watching each other's backs.

But today, or tonight, they were on route to meet with the Guardians: Terrador, Volteer and Cyril. They had left earlier in the day to investigate a disturbance near the edge of the mountains, and for the Guardians to have to call in for the legendaries' aid made it more interesting.

"So what do you think they found?" Spyro asked Cynder, who was just inches away.

"Don't know. Maybe it has something to do with us, and they went ahead to check."

Shrugging at the thought, they continued on towards their destination. It didn't take long before a large clearing in the trees came into view. Near the edge of the clearing was the mouth of a large cave.

Swooping down, the two skid to a stop. As they headed towards the cave, three large figures came into view.

Walking up to them were 3 large dragons, one green, one yellow, and one blue, that stood five times taller than Spyro or Cynder.

"Spyro, Cynder." Terrador greeted the legendary duo as the others walked up beside the green Earth guardian.

"So what's the issue out here, guys?" Spyro asked to no one in particular.

Spyro's question was only answered by the nervous looks on the 3 giants' faces.

"Follow us." Cyril said as the Ice Guardian started heading into the cave, followed by the other Guardians. Due to their size, the younger dragons zipped by them and ahead to Cyril.

They didn't have to go far until they were met with a large crystal that stood idly on the middle of the path.

"Strange, it moved closer." Terrador looked behind the massive red and black gem. But instead of a glasslike, light-coloured look that all crystals have, this huge gemstone had a texture that could be described as similar to water frozen in time.

"A dark crystal?" Spyro asked, narrowing his eyes at it.

"You could say that, but," Terrador picked up a loose rock by his feet, throwing it at the dead centre of the shard. Instead of cracking the target or bouncing off, like with any other crystal, the rock quickly got swallowed up.

" _These are the ones_ …" a cold, hard voice echoed from the crystal.

"Did it just talk?" Cynder asked with wide eyes.

"Yes," Cyril responded, walking closer. "It was when we first came here, and when we made attempts in making contact."

"And since you two have dealt with this kind of thing before, we wanted your thoughts on the matter," Terrador added as Volteer nodded in agreement.

Looking to each other, the purple dragon and black dragon walked up to the large crystal.

"This isn't another one of the dark crystals we've seen." Cynder said, placing a claw on the gem's surface.

"You think breaking it will work again?" As he said this, Spyro stepped back a bit to take a ready stance. Pacing back over to the Guardians and Spyro, Cynder and the others watched as the purple dragon built up a large fireball.

When it stopped growing in size, he let out the beam at the crystal. After learning more about his powers he had managed to focus different forces when firing, letting out as much power as possible to break it.

Slowly he let up as the smoke cleared. The crystal had cracked under the blast's force. Little bursts of red energy escaped from the surface.

"What's it doing?" Cyril asked as the crystal began to deform. The large chunks in particular liquefied as it formed a large, black and red blob of goo on the ground.

The goo soon began to become solid again, growing bigger as it rose. One part reaches out as a four-taloned claw smashes to the ground. Quickly, the entire mass of slime grew in size as another arm grips the stone floor. A large opening ripped open just above its chest as rows of deadly sharp teeth formed.

 _ **(Black Slime Screech)**_

The monster stood there. If it had eyes, it would be looking straight at the dragons. The beast stood tall enough to be level with the Guardians' chins.

"By the ancestors…" Terrador muttered at the sight of the hulking beast. The monster turned towards the dragons, a grin that would have scared anyone forming.

Letting out another roar, it charged forward. Acting quickly, Spyro let out a blast of fire breath. The monster only paused for a moment before it continued.

Jumping out of the way it brought both of its claws down, cracking the stone floor of the cave. Terrador took the chance as he slammed his own front claws to the ground, sending a wave of Earth-element energy rippling through the cave.

The force shook several large spikes from the roof to break off, some directly impacting the creature. But to Terrador's shock, the beast continued dashing forward, unaffected by the stalactites.

"What the-"

Terrador was cut off by a blast of ice that Cyril had unleashed. This made the monster skid to a halt. Rearing back, it roared, launching a stream of slime from its maw.

The ice breath stream hit dead centre. Instead of freezing, the blob only continued to grow and grow, like it was feeding on the ice. The effect was soon apparent as the monster began to rise, growing past the height of all 3 Guardians.

Pouring more power in, Volteer took his shot, hitting the monster's left arm. The monster roared in what could be considered pain as the lightning and ice fought against it. It brought its arm up to shield itself from the ice as it reached its right claw into its side., pulling from its mass a hook and a length of long, rusty chain wrapped around its body and arms. Swinging back the chain flew up into the air as it grabbed the hook, chucking it towards the ice dragon.

Cyril dodged the hook as whipped around, like it had a mind of its own in choosing its target. As a result, the hook wrapped around Terrador's right side, pulling away the scales with little difficulty. Dragging the hook back, the monster pulled it into its palm, letting the metal sink into the goo.

Falling to its claws, the creature lurched forward, letting out a large plume of slime in its path. It easily covered most of the cave floor, forcing the group to back further out.

Taking a chance, Terrador whipped his tail across the archway of the cave's entrance and bringing it down, stepping back as Cyril quickly froze over the rock.

"That should buy us some time."

But the moment was short lived as chunks of rock and ice shard erupted from the barrier, followed by an Earth-cracking shake. Another hit came through, causing heavy cracks to rip.

Then, nothing.

No sound, no smashing from anything. Not even the forest around the dragons made any noise.

The cave exploded open, sending shards of stone, ice and slime everywhere as the dragons were knocked back. Roaring in the same manner as before, it dashed towards the fallen dragons. Spyro and Cynder had just seconds before it smashed down.

Turning to them, it let out a different-toned roar. This one sounded like it was reaching its level of tolerance with them.

It spewed another bout of slime as it charged towards them. Spyro had one idea.

"RUN!"

Spreading his wings, Spyro pushed off the ground and into the air just as another ball of slime hit the area. Everyone quickly followed closely as they rapidly flew away from the cave entrance.

The monster tried to follow but only let out one final roar.

* * *

Warfang Temple, some time later.

As the group landed at the top of the large temple, each one nursed their own wounds.

"That was beyond terrible, just deadly, just-"

"Shut up, Volteer…" Terrador groaned holding the large gash on his side.

Even Spyro had several bruises and cuts, but not too many compared to the others. Cynder, on the other hand, was for the most part dirty from the dirt, stone and slime.

"What was that thing?" Spyro asked. None of the Guardians had even the slightest idea.

"Cynder, do you-"

Looking back at her, Spyro could see something he hadn't seen before in her: Pure fear. She just stayed at the spot she landed in, neither moving nor looking away.

"Cynder, you alright?" He asked, nudging her. She blinked twice before shaking her head.

"Wha- Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little startled at what that monster was."

Walking up beside her, Spyro laid his wing over her.

"Come on. We all can use some rest after this. Tomorrow, we can try to find out what that weird slime was."

Nodding in agreement, all the dragons headed inside the large doors. As they walk, drips of slime fell to the ground, oozing into the cracks in the floor.

* * *

The Chronicler is a dragon whose eye watches over the dragon realm and keeps its history in check.

Now in his place was the mighty ex-fire guardian, Ignitus.

The large dragon stood at the stand, where he could view the world in realtime. The display showed the battle scene where the dragons had encountered the slime monster.

Ignitus just shook his head as the image of Spyro and Cynder struggling to just escape the creature came up. It was a question that he couldn't even begin searching for a answer for.

"Something troubles you." A old voice said, walking into the library. A gray dragon slowly walked over to the fire dragon, his age showing in every step.

"Indeed. These… creatures... are a kind of which I have never seen."

As Ignitus stepped aside to allow the old dragon to view the image, the Chronicler stared at it.

"It is something I have never seen before, not even in my time. But if what it's made of is anything to go by, than the world is not the only thing in danger."

"What do you mean?"

Walking over to the self that contained Spyro's book, he flips directly to the end.

"The Purple One had prevented the world's very destruction, sealing the Dark Master in the Core. But that was of his physical form."

"Are you saying that Malefor is still alive?" Ignitus asked with fear in his voice.

"I'm afraid so. But if this is the manifestation of his power, then his very soul could grow even more powerful than last time."

"So, he is returning. What can we do?"

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that. I have witnessed the supernatural before, but this will require more than what the young dragons can handle."

Closing the book he heads back to the viewer, looking closely at the monster.

"It was said, long ago, that an ancient monster called a Slor from a unknown world had been taken from its home and enslaved. But decades later, it was defeated by eight strange mortals."

This made Ignitus become even more confused. The word Slor was something rarely discovered in ancient writing, sometimes owing to the fact that they could rip worlds apart just by feeding one Slor's anger. But for one to be defeated? And by only eight mortals? It made him just plain dumbfounded.

"How is that even possible? It takes tremendous power to do such a thing."

"And yet they've done it like it was nothing." The Chronicler said, walking over to a large mirror that had been leaning on the wall.

Blowing the dust off, he dragged the large sheet of glass over to Ignitus.

"This is a mirror transporter. It's a long lost means of teleporting between realms. And if we can locate those beings, then we can ask for their aid."

"You want me to do it? But I have no idea who or what to look for."

Ignitus eyed the glass. His own image seemed to spiral inward like it was getting pulled in.

"Once you get there, you must locate them and tell of our situation. They will understand."

Heading towards the large mirror. Ignitus just wondered what he was to do.

"How will I know who they are? And if the world you speak of is real, then how shall I 'fit in'?"

"Once you're in the world, you will be adapted into an appropriate form. And they are well known where they are, just ask anyone and hopefully they'll point you in the right direction."

"Again," The fire dragon said in annoyance. "Who?"

"They are the answer that everyone knows the question to: Who you gonna call?" the Chronicler said with a chuckle.

* * *

Special thanks to my new Beta; DetectiveSky612!


	2. You're All Hired

Chapter 2: You're All Hired

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _2 Weeks later…_

 _New York City._

 _May 21, 2019._

 _"Hello, New York! This is AR Bob with the evening report. Due to construction on 6th Street, traffic will be a little more jammed than usual. Then again, when is it not? Over on the Brooklyn side of town, the Westmore T- Station will be running on only one track due to tunnel flooding from last week's storms. And The Yankees won 2-1, Go Yankees!_

 _In other news, the Rocky Mo Dance club on Smith Avenue will be closed for the week due to slime that was leaking from the drainage pipes. The damage could have been worse, had it not been for our favorite NYC response team, the Protonix Ghostbusters. Thanks to their efforts in protecting our city, a big celebration is being planned to mark the five year anniversary of their help to the city. The celebration is set to begin within a week, so it should be enough time for you ghostheads out there to dress up as your favorite buster._

 _And remember, if there's something strange in your neighbourhood, who ya gonna call? "_

* * *

Across the island of Manhattan, hundreds to thousands of citizens went about their daily life. Far off in the more residential areas, the leader of the Ghostbusters himself was just wrapping up a job.

"Alright Mrs. Watterson, that patch should clear up any more slime that the blower couldn't reach. If any does come back, just give us a call." Walking out the front door of the house came the 25 year old ghosted, completely suited in a pair of jet black cargo pants with his iconic jacket. Strapped around his back sat the large device that allowed Ghostbusting to happen.

"Thanks again for coming. I still don't know how those two find that stuff." Following behind him was a 37-year-old woman that had a shaded blue hairstyle with a white shirt and gray skirt.

"It's no problem. Take care, now," he said, walking down the steps. Parked over at the curb sat his hot rod of a bike, Ecto-X1. It was a heavily modified military bike that had a sleek white and red colour scheme, with two large red 'No' symbols over the rims. The most eye-popping part was the large, black-and-silver engine block. Instead of a normal gas engine, this had a large drum that looked like someone took off the bottom half of a proton pack and connected it to the bike. Heading to the back, Derek unlatched the pack's straps from around him. Swinging it around, he placed the 90-pound pack onto the rack that sat on top of the rear fender. Pulling over the protective bash cage, he jumped over onto the seat.

The motorcycle hummed to life as he pulled off the sidewalk and onto the road, heading back towards the city with the siren blazing.

* * *

 _Brooklyn_.

On the other side of the East River, another part of the team was in the middle of a more difficult task.

"BLAST IT!"

On the cue, three bright-orange energy beams lit up a building. Flashes of blue and yellow followed as screams echoed through the structure. The main doors were busted open as two blobs flew out into the open. Before they could get away, two beams wrapped around them as a bright flash enveloped the blobs. They quickly dropped closer to the ground until they completely disappeared into a foot-sized black box.

"And that's two in the box, ready to go!" one Ghostbuster yelled out, firing a large blast of proton energy. Beside him stood two others. Each one was wearing a jumpsuit, one deep red, one all black and one patched orange.

"Danny! What did we say about Boson Darts?!" Mike Docks, the team's enforcer, barked at the offending Ghostbuster.

"Oh, come on. Even you're happy we got those two before they got into the forks and knives." Danny said, holstering his proton gun and grabbing the smoking trap. Mike just rolled his eyes as he and the brothers headed back towards Ecto-4MC, a modified utility truck that had a large cannon-like thrower on the roof, which was decked out with large metal cases.

"So what's next?" Ben asked, placing his pack in the truck.

"Let's see," Mike said, pulling out a list from his side pocket. "We have three more cleanup jobs, a possible possession, a demonic possession and reports of more slime leaking from a storm drain." Putting the list back, Docks walked around to the driver's seat. Both Ben and Danny just sighed as they hopped in the truck. Flipping on the siren, Mike gunned the truck out of the parking lot as they headed to the next job.

* * *

Near the center of Manhattan, just out-of-view from Central Park, stood a building that had been known for being a legendary fire station and movie location. Now, the iconic firehouse, known by many, served as headquarters to the Protonix Ghostbusters. The building itself was heavily renovated to fit the needs of the large team. The very inside looked like the modern day version of the original Ghostbusters Firehouse. The area around the building was also different compared to everything else. A large three-vehicle parking bay extended beside the building, while a large helipad and hangar stood on top. Towards the back left corner of the building was a much larger extension to the original building that served as the research-and-development facility and living quarters. Hanging just above the main door and bay was a lead sign that represented the team: A No-Ghost logo with a red, rusted gear on the outline, with a metallic ghost and a proton gun across the slash.

Inside the building, the layout was much different. The place where Peter Venkman's office was now held a waiting room for clients and the secretary desk. A balcony rested over the entire setup. It was used more for group meetings or just storage. Parked on the side of the right wall sat a massive red and white semi truck with all sorts of equipment inside the trailer. The Ghostbusters logo and name were printed on the trailer's side, and a roof rack covered the front half of the roof with a miniature heli pad on the back half.

"Leo! Hey, Leo!"

Walking out in an indigo jumpsuit, Rachel Bucker, the Protonix Ghostbusters part time historian and full time medic, walked out of a side door that led to the offices. Heading over to the trailer, she walked up the access ramp. One would be shocked at the amount of room inside the trailer, but for her, it was more than normal. Passing the equipment rack and laboratory, she entered the containment room, a portion of the trailer that held the portable containment unit, which in turn powered the semi.

"Leo?" She asked, looking around at the mess. Sitting over in the corner, with his back against the unit and a Times magazine over his sleeping face, was the brain behind the tech.

"Leo!" Rachel shouted, kicking at his legs. Leo barely moved from his sleep. Rolling her eyes, Rachel stepped back, over to the Containment Unit interface, placing her hand on the palm scanner. The control panel opened up. Reaching inside, she turned a key, then pulled a small lever.

Red lights quickly filled the truck as a alarm began to sound.

" **Warning, Laser Grid Deactivated. Self Destruct in 60 seconds."**

 **"** **Warning, Laser Grid Deactivated. Self Destruct in 45 seconds.** **"**

 **"** **Warning, Laser Grid Deactivated. Self Destruct in 30 seconds.** **"**

 **"** **Warning, Laser Grid Deactivated. Self Destruct in 15 seconds.** **"**

Faster than the naked eye could see, Leo jumped up from his place and quickly pulled the lever up and pulled the main 'flush' lever down.

" **Laser Grid Reactivated."**

Making sure that it was safe, he pulled the handle up while closing the control panel. "If you're trying to doom us all, then it is working," he said in a frustrated yawn. Lack of sleep was clear to Rachel. His black and orange jumpsuit was halfway on and tied around his waist, and his white undershirt had several food and slime stains on it.

"Says the guy sleeping with his work again. Don't tell me you had a jar of slime with you," she said, crossing her arms as a smirk creeped across her face. Leo could only sigh in defeat.

"Has Jack come back yet with those parts?" he asked as he started cleaning up the mess he made.

"He called five minutes ago. He's on his way now." Rachel said, stepping out. Before she could get out of the trailer, the main doors swung open. Pulling into the firehouse slowly, Derek brought his bike up beside the truck. Hopping off, he reached over and pulled out two still-smoking ghost traps.

"Well, you got back fast." Rachel smiled as she walked up to him. "How did it go?"

"Another Blob Ghoul and three Class 2 repeaters. Also, Watterson is paying with debit, so expect that pretty soon." Reaching out, Rachel took the two traps from his hands as he let go of the pack, letting it slide to the ground.

"I guess I'll put these away while you go get cleaned up." She said, walking away to the back stairs.

"Couldn't argue with that." Derek said, heading up the main stairs to the upper level.

* * *

 _Ignitus' POV, several moments ago_

A headache, God, this headache... It felt like I just ran head first into a mountain. Opening one eye, I was taken by a strange sight. The sun's mostly blocked by tall structures surrounding me. And the smell... Oh, the smell... It was just like the smell in the prison I was captured in. Adjusting, I held a claw up to try to rub away the pulsing pain. But what I feel is… strange.

Looking down, I see that I'm not what I was. My body had shrunk, and I was more thin. My arms were now two skinny and my talons were replaced with... what was the word again? Hands, that's it, they were replaced with hands. I was dressed in bright orange clothing, or what the moles call suits. A red undercloth was just visible under the darker orange. Twisting my body around, I jumped to my feet, and the headache quickly returns. I clutched my head with both hands as if it was going to explode. After standing still for a moment, I moved towards the opening. The light became much brighter, the sounds, much louder.

Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I was amazed. Gigantic buildings were everywhere, towering high into the sky. On the ground there were countless strange beings, all dressed in strange clothing, all running around like insects.

Walking out more, I stepped past the rushing crowds into the more open street. Before I could step out, a loud yellow object raced by. Soon, others of different color and sizes roared by. Waiting for the right moment, I took a quick glance in each direction. Stepping onto the path, I dashed over to the other side. Some of the objects stopped or weaved past me while letting out strange honks. Shrugging it off, I continued down alongside the road. Despite what I looked like, nobody even looked at me. Most were just walking or were looking down at a small glowing object in their hand.

 _'Volteer would be in paradise learning about this stuff. Hehe.'_

Rounding the corner, I came to a stop. Sticking out of the side of a building was a small green shack that looked like a market venue, but was covered in papers rather than foods. Most of the papers that people were taking each had different images of the same people. One read out across the top, **_'Ghostbustin'_ _Forever'_** , in bold with an image of eight people huddled around a large white object, like the ones on the street.

"Hey buddy, you gonna buy it or not?" A large man said, looking down at me.

"Ummm, no, but are you able to give me directions to them?" I asked, holding the paper up. He turned to me with a dumbfounded look, and others who stood by did the same.

"Really? Where have you been, sleeping under a rock for the past 6 years?"

"I'm... not from around this side of the world." I shot back a glare at him. He merely shrugged his shoulders as he tended to others waiting.

"Alright. If you're looking for the Ghostbusters, just head 4 blocks that way and 'round the corner. You'll know it when you see it," he said, pointing down the road. I quickly turn to head in said direction.

"Thank you!" I shouted as I made my way towards the "Ghostbusters'" domain.

* * *

 _40 minutes and 4 blocks later…_

This city was unbearable. I felt like at any moment I would just snap at one of these people if I didn't heed the task at hand. I had to ask seven other people to find my way to the building, and four blocks of walking was a pain compared to flying. Rounding the corner, I could see the large red building the vendor mentioned. A strange sign was hanging from one entrance while people passed by, some stopping in front of it to pose, while one emitted a flash of light from a device before moving on. Heading down the path, I could see more and more to the place. A larger extension lay out from the side, with three more doors covered in glass.

But then, I stopped. A weird wailing caught in my ears, and it was getting closer. Turning back, I could see others watching a person zoom by me. A blue light flashed over the white machine he was in as the rider waved to people. As I was watching carefully, it pulled up to the building, the large doors swinging open as he disappeared inside.

 _'This has got to be it.'_

Dashing across the street, I stepped up to the large red doors. Pushing on the middle, I tried to open the doors, but nothing happened. Grabbing the small handle, I yank it back. Instead of the entire door, a much smaller one opened.

 _'A door in a door?_ These people are strange.'

Stepping inside, I felt a blast of air go past me. The inside was much bigger than I thought. A large white object sat on the right, one that took up a large portion of the room. In front of it, I could see the object the man came in with. Walking past both, I looked around to find him. The sound of clanking metal filled the room as I looked over to see a female walking out from under the staircase.

"Oh, hello, sir, is there something I can help you with?" She asked, walking over to the desk in front of her.

"Ah, yes, there is. I was hoping to talk to the Ghostbusters," I lied. Knowing what Chronicler said I should try to work my way in with their official. Glancing at the clothing she wore, I could see the word 'Bucker' imprinted in a bright yellow. Possibly her name, I supposed.

"Do you have an appointment?" She asked, writing on a sheet of paper.

"Uh... No, it was hard enough just to locate this place. I'm here on a very important manner." I could already feel the sweat start to drip.

"Well, I guess we can get you in with Derek Stewart. He just returned from a job."

"That would be very helpful, thank you." I said with the calmest tone I could muster.

"Alright, head down the hall," she said, pointing to a hall that broke off from the main room. "-the third room on the left. Wait there and I'll send him down." Getting up from the desk, she handed me a paper before she headed up the staircase on the wall. Looking at the paper, a new level of confusion filled my head. Shaking off the thoughts, I headed towards to hall. Unlike the main building, this was mostly white with shelves of strange items. Reaching the door, I pushed it open slowly.

' _By the ancestors… this place is better than Volteer's back in the temple.'_

* * *

 _Upper Level_.

After their purchase of the firehouse, the team spent nearly three years and millions of dollars in rebuilding the top two floors. Unlike having the living quarters where everyone was in a single room, they opted to have separate rooms for everyone. At the far end of the extension, near the left corner before another set off stairs, was Derek's place. It was much bigger than the others, except Leo's because of the large amount of equipment stored there. Making her way around furniture that littered the entertainment area, Rachel walked down the hall straight to Derek's door.

"Hey, Derek?" Rachel asked through the crack in the door.

"Yeah?"

"There's a man here, he's waiting in your office," She said. The sound of someone falling filled the room as Derek swung the door open, wearing just a towel around his neck and jeans.

"Please tell me he's not from the EPA and here to see what's in our basement," he asked, thinking of what could happen.

"No, he says it's something very important and you're the one here who does the talking," she said, stepping back as Derek opened the door more.

"Alright." Walking out, he headed to one of the lockers that sat up against the wall. Swinging open the far left one, he pulled out a navy blue and black jumpsuit. Grabbing a belt and other items, he rushed back in his room. "I'll be out in five minutes."

* * *

Looking around the office, I was just fascinated by the various reports and images on the walls. Some read 'Ghosts and Ghostbusting Exist' and 'Teens turn Fiction to Reality'. Others talked about how they helped the city and places to even preventing an apocalypse, twice. But one stood out heavily. It was a picture of 8 of them, or so it seemed, because some images show 12 or more, circled around a hole in the street. Inside it, you could see a black color that looked like water in a shadow. The description below made it more clear that this world had some dark problems. One that almost mirrored ours.

 _ **'Monsterous Black Mass Under NYC** '_

 _" **During the Thanksgiving parade on November 23, 2016, several hundreds of spectators were attacked by large slime like monsters that rose from the ground during the main parade. The death toll of 24 could have been higher, had it not be for the aid of the Protonix Ghostbusters, who destroyed the creatures within moments. The area was quickly sealed off as the 12-man team investigated the scene.** **Only 5 hours later, the very street itself buckled, revealing something that the world and even the Ghostbusters froze at: A lake of what the Protonix Ghostbusters call 'Black Ecto' or 'Black Slime' was discovered in a vast under chamber 245 feet below the surface."**_

 _ **"Estimates from both Busters and Geologists put the lake of slime at a width of 4.2 miles in raduis and extending nearly 7 miles under the lenght of Manhattan.**_ _ **This made the team highly concerned about the safety of the city, as the paranormal power that this amount of slime could generate could destroy the city and surrounding tri-state area. De** **claring New York City as 'The Yellowstone of the Northeast', the government has been working with the team and other scientists to prevent any of the slime from reaching the surface. But with the rise in supernatural activity, many question if this could be a sign of bad things to come."**_

There was much more to the page, but this alone made me think about our situation. If they were dealing with this slime now, than what could it help with our slime problem?

"Learning about our past, eh?" Spinning around, I quickly saw who asked the question. Standing in the door was a young male wearing a blue version of what the female, or Bucker, wore, except he had much more around his attire.

"So you're the one who wanted to talk about a important situation?"

I nod.

"Alright, Derek Stewart, of the Protonix Ghostbusters," he said, extending his arm out. Reaching mine out, we shook.

"Iven, Iven… Drake." It wasn't the best name I could think of, but it would hopefully work.

"Well, Mr. Drake, what can we do for you?" he asked, sitting in the chair across from me.

"Well," I started, thinking about what to say. The little info that the papers and what Chronicler said about them was enough to make me think hard.

It wasn't like I could say 'Hi, I'm a dragon from a different world. Can you and your team stop what you're doing and help us fight monsters?'.

"I was sent by my higher official because he had info that you could help in our… problem."

"Ah, um... And what might this problem be exactly?" Before I could answer, Derek swung the back of his chair to me. In a moment he turned back, but with a bottle in his hand. "Possession? Disturbing a ancient burial ground? Portal to Hell?" He said, taking a drink... Portal to Hell? They've dealt with things like that?

"No. It involves," leaning closer so that I could look him in the eye, "Black Slime." His eyes widened incredibly. He choked slightly on his drink as he sat down the bottle.

"What kind of situation. Portal, Ghost, Walker?"

"Monster," I said, cutting him short. He quickly dragged over a large black glass panel over between us. It let out a red glow as several images popped on screen. Different forms of creatures sped by as he flipped past them. In seconds, he stopped at a image that made my eyes widen.

"Black Slime Monster, Class 6 Manifestation, Ranges between 600 to 2,300 pounds and 9 feet tall. Relies on melee and at times range. Formed when massive amounts of anger and darkness is feed into black slime. On a scale one to ten, how bad?" he asked. Chronicler had told me about what had happened during the past few days. More and more of the slime monsters were popping up all over the world, growing so large that one could destroy a town or village with ease.

"As it stands now, 8, and at the rate it is climbing, it could reach 10 within a month." The look on his face became more grim than what I saw the others look like back some time ago. He quickly grabbed a paper and writes down something. As he did so, the sound of a loud ringing filled the room. He looked up from the paper as he quickly bolted to the door.

"Oh, sorry to cut this short, got a bust to deal with, maybe we can continue this some other time?" He asked, flinging the door open.

"Of course," I said as he ran out. I got up from my seat and followed him down the hallway.

"Traps?!" He yelled as he ran past the woman's desk.

"Traps." She handed him two black objects. He quickly ran over to the same white object from earlier and placed the two items on the side. Opening the box on the top, he pulled out a large, strange black-and-gray device with various wires and lights on it.

Hopping over the black spot, he grabbed the front handle and lifted his feet. The large doors swung open as he zoomed out of the building with the same noise as before and a bright blue light. Seeing me, the woman walked towards the door.

"Sorry about that. Duty calls," she said, waving me off.

"It's alright. I'm use to this type of thing. Oh, before I go, could I use your restroom?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, it's just back down the hall on the right. The second door."

"Thank you," I said, walking back. I quickly slipped inside the small white room and locked the door. Walking over to the sink, I turned both knobs and let the sink slowly fill up to the brim. Cupping my hands together I blew a small blue flame. I carefully brought it to the water as the lights began to dim. The water swirled as the image came into focus.

" _Ah, Ignitus, how's your first day in the human world_?" Chronicler asked from the reflection.

"I'd prefer the Belt of Fire over this place, though it is amazing to look at. But, I have made contact with the Ghostbusters."

" _And what are their thoughts about the job?"_

"*sigh* I don't know. I only talked to their leader, Derek Stewart, for a brief time. And they, too, are dealing with a problematic substance called Black Slime. "

 _"Black Slime_?" He said, rubbing his chin. _"I have never heard of such a thing. But if they are the ones who defeated a Slor, then they must come quickly."_

"I agree. But how can we get them all to agree?" I asked.

" _Leave that to me,_ " he said as the image turned back into water. Before I could do anything I was quickly covered in a bright purple glow. My vision went completely blank as a white light flooded in.

* * *

Ignitus wasn't the only one. Racing down the street, Derek was weaving his way through traffic to the job. But as he passed a intersection, he was quickly covered in the same purple glow. Both him and the bike vanished, leaving the entire area frozen in time. Back at the firehouse, Jack had arrived in Ecto-1, the original Ecto-1A Cadillac from the second movie, but with more modernized equipment. Before Jack could get 3 feet away from the car with parts in hand, he, the car, Rachel, Leo, and the truck vanished in a purple light. Meanwhile, on the roof, team pilot Roger Donny was taking off in the Ecto-2A helicopter, he too vanished in the same light.

* * *

 _Ecto-4_

"Ecto-4 to HQ, do you copy? Ecto-4 to HQ, is anyone watching the damn place?" Mike said to the radio. He and the Smith brothers were on their way with loaded traps after completing the day's jobs.

"Bet you $20 Derek and Rachel are at it again," Ben said, leaning between the front seats.

"Shut up." Danny said with his head hanging halfway out of the window. The same glow that got the others began creeping slowly over the outside of the truck, until all three of them vanished along with Ecto-4, leaving just tire marks where the vehicle once was.

* * *

 _Void Realm_

In the vast space of the world, many things tend to come and go. But on a small rocky platform floating in space, 8 bright balls of energy expanded in size. One by one, each dropped a body.

 _"Oh god my head_ …" Derek moaned, rubbing his temples. The others sat up slowly, each one holding their heads.

"What the hell just happened?!" Jackson yelled, hopping to his feet. "Where the bloody hell are we?!" Looking around, the team quickly got to their feet. On instinct they each went to pull their proton guns from their packs, only to realize Derek was the only one wearing one.

"Please tell we're not in a cross-world version of Manhattan again," Roger asked as Leo pulled out his PKE meter, styled after the one in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.

"There's a tremendous amount of energy here, but no direct source. It's like it's coming from everywhere and nowhere, all at once," he said, pointing it in different directions.

"Meaning?" Jack asked.

"It means when me, Derek and Rachel went to the public library with the others, 6 of us went to the ghost world version of it, or when we went to 'Manhellten', I got heavy amounts of data, and this place doesn't match any of it."

"Then what about that?" Rachel asked, pointing. Everyone looked over to see a large wooden building that stood on top of a large rock column.

"I'm getting very strong reads from that building," Leo said as he adjusted the meter.

"Then let's get closer," Derek said, stepping closer to the edge. Flipping the pack's modes, he switched to the Slime Blower setting. Aiming at the ground, he fired a strand of slime at the rock and one back to theirs, firing two more slime tethers until the rock was slowly drifting towards the building. Launching a few more to make sure it stayed, the team stepped off the rock to the building. It was less impressive up close compared to far away. It was much more like a wood hut that looked like it was left to rot in the forest. The only thing truly visible was a large circular door.

"What do ya think, knock or melt?" Derek asked, eyeing the door with his thrower in his hands. Leo stepped closer with the meter as the wings flashed faster.

"I'm reading a possible Class 14 or higher behind this door. But not spiritual-"

* _knock,knock,knock*_

Everyone jumped away from the door at the sound. Derek quickly switched the pack 's setting to the Proton Stream. Looking to the right, they could see Rachel with her fist to the door with a smirk.

"Okay, now you really _are_ trying to doom us all," Leo said, pulling his goggles from his belt and wrapping the headband around his head.

"Well we don't want to end up like back in the library, remember?" she said, stepping away from the door. Everyone waited for a response.

"Alright, let me knock, hard." Taking a few steps back, Derek aimed at the doorknob that stood out 10 feet above them. Double checking, he changed the settings to level 5, gripped the handle and-

* _ **Ch-ooooommmm** *_

The door lock took a direct hit from a large blast of boson particles. Some of the others covered their eyes while the plant life around them trembled. The door just cracked slowly, letting out a bright blue light. Roger, Mike and Danny both stepped forward to the door, all 3 men pushing it forward. Once it was opened enough for all of them, they entered. The inside was much bigger than they thought. It was a much more like a giant chamber than a house, with shelves of books all over the walls. A strange structure stood in the middle of the room, while a cauldron sat in the corner over a flame.

"Forget bookworms," Derek said, walking further inside. "This is Space Witch Doctor type stuff." He ran his hand over a row of books.

"I could spend months catalogueing these." Leo took a book from the shelf and flipped through the pages.

"Please don't do that. That book is over 2,300 years old..." An old but stern voice filled the room. Quickly Leo closed the book, put it back and raised his meter. Everyone backed up into a group around Derek, who was aiming in any direction, constantly retargeting. Danny went to try and run for the door, but was stopped when it smashed shut. The sound of locks made him groan.

"We're not alone…" Mike quickly reached down to his side and unholstered his guns. Being the most experienced with real firearms, he had two Proton Pistols strapped to his outer thighs. The group stood back to back, waiting.

"Got anything, guys?" Derek asked as the others pulled out their meters. And as if it was a sign from God, they did get something. Just in front of them, the air began to disorient, like time and space was being ripped apart. The transparent form rapidly expanded out, forming four long arms. Three landed squarely on the ground while one hung high above them. The light the form was made of quickly disappeared from the room. Standing in its place was a large blueish-gray creature.

"Greetings…" it said as its eyes fell upon the Ghostbusters. On instinct, both Derek and Mike unleashed their proton beams at it. But before they could make contact, the beams of light coiled around, like they were wrapping themselves around a spool.

"Please, don't. I don't wish to have my library burned down," He said, raising one of his fore-talons. Slowly, all three beams began retracting back to their guns. Derek's pack let out a loud hiss as steam shot from the accelerator. Both men looked at each other for a moment before finally lowering their weapons.

"Thank you, now, if I may." Clearing his voice, the sound of how old he was set in.

"I am the Chronicler, I am the watcher of Worlds, and recorder of the past, present and future." His voice was filled with pride and wisdom.

"Um… we're the-" Derek started, but was cut off.

"The Protonix Ghostbusters," Chronicler finishes. "Derek Stewart, Rachel Bucker, Leo Johnson, Roger Donny, Mike Docks, Ben Smith, Danny Smith, and Jack Wolfton. I've been watching you from time to time. And I must say, you all have done quite a bit of work for just a few years." Everyone just stood there, jaws dropped at the way he said their names. As if it wasn't enough, the fact that something or someone has been watching them for the past 6 years raised several alarms.

"Uh… thanks?" Derek shrugged, not really knowing if the implications were good or bad.

"But I did not bring you here to just compliment you. I brought you all here because of something we have seen in our world you all can deal with ease." He said, walking over to the boiling cauldron.

"Um… while it would be our job to help, we're…"

"We're a bit backed up in our own problem," Mike finished as Derek just gave them a nod.

"Ah, yes, my apprentice had told me about your situation concerning... What was it?… Black Slime. And do not worry about your world. When I brought you all here I quantum locked it at the same time," Chronicler added in.

"So our world is frozen, great. So does that mean when it's unfrozen I'll end up driving straight into a taxi?" Derek asked, crossing his arms in frustration. It truly wouldn't be the first time he or the others experienced it. They flat out hated it.

"Nonsense. You'll resume your time when I send you back. But for now, think fast."

He quickly spun around to face them, rising on his hind legs as he smashed down his front talons. The ground shook at the impact as a large Dark spot formed in front of the team, growing in size as it soon towered over them. Standing in a ready-to-attack pose was a giant 30-foot slime monster. Everyone quickly back pedalled to the door or ran behind Derek as he took no time to fire. The particle beam passed right through its head as its form quickly dissipated.

"What the hell was that!?" Derek shouted, aiming the thrower at the Chronicler.

"Our problem. For just over two weeks now, those monsters have been popping up all over the world. So far, the only ideal thing people do is run away and hope they outrun it."

"Leo?" Derek stuttered. "Can you get a scan of that?" he asked as Leo slowly stepped forward, holding his PKE meter like a weapon. Chronicler does the same thing again. This time Leo scanned the monster. The graph on the screen changed from its standard green (Environmental Sample) to a bright yellow (Unknown/Undocumented) as the wings slowly rose. Each light flickered on until the wings are fully extended and the lights are at the tips.

"Black Slime Abomination, Class 8 Smasher. Ranges between 16 to 60 feet in size, weighing around 15,000 pounds. Relies on… slime trailing for melee attacks and hooks for ranged… Holy Crap."

Everyone was silent at the information given. Slime Monsters was one thing to deal with. One buster could single-handedly bring one down in under 30 seconds if they stayed on their toes long enough. But a Slime Abomination... It was something different. Rachel remembered the time when the other teams came to their world, how Bridget, another Ghostbuster, and her team dealt with the same type of monsters when riding on their Ecto. But compared to these, it was nothing.

"So, if I'm getting this right…" Derek said, rubbing his neck. "You want someone… us... to hunt these things down and destroy them?"

Chronicler tilted his head to the side for a moment to think but quickly answered. "To put it bluntly, yes," he said, with a tiny grin.

"Umm… Could you give us a moment to discuss this matter?"

"By all means, go ahead," Chronicler waved them off. Derek stepped a few feet back as he huddled up with the others.

"Alright. What should we do?" he asked.

"I don't like him," Ben responded with a glare in the Chronicler's direction.

"You don't like anyone, period. But are we really going to accept a job from a… dragon?" Mike looked over to Leo and Derek.

"True, but if they're dealing with that kind of black slime in their world, God knows what could happen if it opened a portal. Or worse, it can do damage to our world." Derek thought out the task. It was like the time when they discovered the lake.

"Leo, thoughts?" Reaching behind him, Leo pulls out a small calculator, quickly typing in numbers.

"Stop that!" Rogor yelled, slapping it out of his hand.

"If my calculations are correct," Leo said, picking up the device, "then our odds of defeating this entity are somewhat slim."

"How slim?" Mike asked.

"I calculated 53 likely outcomes. We would survive 7 of them."

"That beats our usual odds," Rachel added.

"Unfortunately correct." Leo put the calculator back into his pocket. "Let's do it." Derek was about to question him, but just slapped his hand to his face. Sighing, he looked to the others.

"Anyone disagree?" Ben raised his hand. Ignoring him, they broke.

"Alright, Chronicler, we accept. When and where do we start?" Derek asked, keeping his grip on the thrower.

"I will transport you all to the surrounding area. Each of you will be reanimated in the time I brought you here, so be careful. And your job starts… Now." Before any of them could respond, the dragon opened his maw, unleashing a blinding white light that surrounded each Ghostbuster. One by one, their bodies vanished, leaving small ash circles where they stood.

"You were right, Ignitus, they are more than serious about their job." Chronicler glanced over to the mirror. Standing in his human form, Ignitus could only think about what would come because of their decision.

"And maybe those two will be helped by our own."

"Is that before or after what the leader and female are going to go through?"

"Both, also, how long until I turn normal?" he asked the weathered dragon.

"Oh, maybe for another hour or two. The effects are still wearing off."

* * *

By now, you might notice that this takes events and things from other parts of the GB Universe, like the Black Slime.

This is because of how Black Slime can cause huge paranormal events that led to the existence of Ghostbusting in our world.

The equipment, in general, are all based on both video games. The packs all have 4 main modes, with secondary and tertiary fire. The tertiary fires are actually weapons from the game Sanctum of Slime.

The designs of the suits and packs have also changed compared to the normal Ghostbusters set. The three main Ghostbusters, Derek, Rachel and Leo, have packs called Protonix Packs (Hence the name, Protonix Ghostbusters) because it is a crossover design of all the known generations of Proton Packs: IDW/ Movie, Video Game 2009, The Real Ghostbusters, Extreme Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2016 and Sanctum of Slime. The others have mixed packs but are still called Proton.

The suits are a combined form of all the jumpsuits as well, making each buster have their own color code. Rachel, Mike, Roger and Leo all have a combination of 2016 and RGB jumpsuits while the others have more movie-like attire. Derek, on the other hand, has two suits. One is a dark blue with black patching, while the other is a leather jacket over a GB shirt with cargo pants. This was his original look when he first started busting.

Now, other things that tie in with the story are how events like the public library with '6' played out, and how Rachel knows a girl named Bridget, the female Ghostbuster in Sanctum of Slime. Both are related to past stories that, if anyone wants to know, can be made out.


	3. Zap, Cap and Trap

Ignitus and Chronicler have met the team and are surprised by what they have done. Offering them the task of helping their world they quickly remember some need to know information.

When reports of slime activity start popping up everywhere the dragons are quick to find out that monsters are not the only thing that's the slime has made. What will happen to the dragon world now that the Protonix Ghostbusters are about to rock it to the core.

Warning: Possible Errors

P.s, Damn 10,842 words.

* * *

Chapter 3: Zap, Cap, and Trap

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

For the very past two weeks that Chronicler has said about, the dragon world was in more chaos than before.

All over the lands reports and sightings of monsters, strange voices and what most have come to call Ghost Apes running a muck.

Warfang, the dragon capital that stood in glory and pride, was quickly getting over runned by the sheer amount of refugees fleeing towns and settlements.

Moles were frantically trying to deal with the heavy income. Dozens would come in injured or homeless as the stockpile of supplies the city runs on rapidly dropped.

In the Temple that stood in said city, many dragons were piled around the rooms and halls after the infirmary was over capacity. Some them including the 3 elemental Guardians. Whom stood around a large stone table with a map that was littered with Xs.

Each one showed the signs of combat and close calls. Black scars and semi- covered cuts were sprinkled over each one. Terrador bared the worst of the group. The gash that the hook had made still remained as a red, green and black mess on his hid. Cyril was a little more unscaved save for 8 days ago.

When they first came into contact with what everyone declares as 'ghosts' that he fought. To their surprise he was capable of using his ice against them, Freezing them in mid-air. At times it would work but they would break out over time.

The same could be said for Volteer himself. While his lightning attacks don't do as much they've proven to do some types of damage to monsters.

"This is getting out of hand. We're practicality surrounded and yet they attack so far out." Terrador says eyeing the map.

"I do say that if this is Malefor's doing, than he does have something planned. Destroying almost every town or village but yet leaving the cities untouched." Cyril adds.

"And at the rate we've been losing ground, we still know little to anything about the problem except it involves this slime stuff." Volteer, the scientific one of the three was even baffled by the substance. He had obtained very small samples to conduct tests with different energies but all have for the most part failed.

Meanwhile in the living quarters of the temple, The legends and Sparx laid about a mountain of blankets and pillows that took up a hefty portion of the room.

"God I'm so… Tired." Sparx moaned into the pillow. The comment was caught as a large pillow plopped over the dragonfly. "Hey, come on!"

Spyro couldn't help but smirk under the blanket that covered his face. And who could blame him? For the past week they've been aidong in evacuating the places where the slime was too dangerous for anyone.

Both dragons hadn't really slept in days, their condition was poor state and there seemed no end in sight.

"I'm tired of all this slime stuff. It's everywhere." Cynder rolls over from her pose to where she was across the purple dragon. Placing a wing over his body.

"Yeah, it only something one who can bust ghosts just popped out of nowhere." Sparx says flying over to the two. Carefully he lands on his brother's head. "So what now?"

"Don't know. The Guardians said they would tell us if they came up with anything." Spyro answers rolling over. Looking towards the open window that stood across the doorway.

The light outside was slowly disappearing as they knew the night would be active. During the day time things were much more safer, barely anything would be seen or reported.

But when night fell, the activity was mind numbing. Monsters and Ghosts would come out of the ground in the dozens, wreaking anything around them.

The 5 learned it the hard way 2 days after the events started. They were checking in on a cheetah village their friend Hunter said about that reported a monster. When they arrived it was almost nightfall and activity was already up.

They were shocked at the size the monsters became. Some were easily over Terrador's height. And he being the biggest of the group did make they weary.

But in the end they all left the fight with more cuts and scars. Most of the village evacuated before the main fight even broke out, lowering the amount of injuries or fatalities. But they didn't leave without learning something

To all of their surprise Volteer and Spyro's lightning elements had caused the creature to stop at times. Though it wouldn't kill it did provide time for the village to evacuate.

"Spyro?, Cynder?" a mole asks, sticking his head in the door.

"The Guardians will like to see you two now." He says ducking back out. Sighing the two dragons stand from their beds and head out.

Some time later they arrive to the meeting room.

"So what now?" Spyro asks as he went past the door. Walking up to the large table with the map.

"We've been going over the most recent reports for the past few minutes. And most are surrounding the area of the Rockwood Forest " Terrador answers turning back to a stack of papers.

"We've been working on a theory on how we can possibly, and finally counteract these creatures. "

"So what have you come up with?" Cynder asks wondering what. Even for her Dark powers she too could do much to stop them.

"As most of us know, whenever these things come into contact with lightning they would…" Volteer stops, trying to think of a word to describe it.

"Freak out?" Sparx adds.

"Yes, they would freak out. Now from what I've gathered we could possible change the way our lightning element acts. We could supercharge the atomic structure of the goo their made of until they-"

"Explode." Spyro finishes for him. " but how do we know if it will work?"

"That my boy is way we are going there, tonight." Cyril answers as each of the trio's faces drop.

 _Later..._

"I can't believe we're doing this again." Sparx said as he hanged onto one of Spyro's horns.

The 5 dragons were flying just above the tree line of the Rockwood Forest. It was renamed do to, well, rocks that shot out of the ground all over the place.

"Remind us again why we're out here?" Cynder said as she kept up just behind him. To their right and left was the Guardians that knew why.

"If what we're thinking is true, than this place will prove to be the best testing ground." Terrador answers.

"And that is?"

"If the added increase of magic to our lightning can be amplified to destroy whatever those things are-"

"Guys look!" Cynder yells out. Each of them turn to her direction as their own eyes light up.

Flying straight up into the sky the watched as 3 different sets of light raced from the forest. Each had two large bulges that were followed by a reddish orange trail.

"What was that?!" Spyro shouts towards the Guardians. Each of them were just as confused as the light faded out.

"Was that your test?" Spyro asks flying to a slow hover.

"No." Volteer was just as confused by the light as anyone else. He knew all kinds of lightning and to him this bear the hell out of him. "I've seen practically every form like lightning known to dragon. But that beats the hell out of me."

To the others this would be a surprise. Volteer was the brain of the temple and one if it's best teacher in elements. For him to be stumped it would take something big.

"We'll check it out. You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up later." Spyro says as he and Cynder broke off. Terrador nodded in agreement as the others flew on.

The pair continued for a little while till they caught sight of a clearing in the trees.

Landing in the small clearing they waited for any other sign. But to both their disappointment nothing.

"I guess we keep going. Maybe we'll find out what it is and met back up with the others" Spyro said heading into the underbrush.

 _A Few Moments ago..._

About a mile away from the trio, the first of the Protonix Ghostbusters was beginning to regain consensus.

Derek laid sprawled out over the rocky ground, his body twitching with purple energy. He tried already pushing himself up twice but found it harder to do so, even with a 112 pound proton pack.

Reaching back he pulls the giant 15 pound thrower of the bracket. Letting it sit on the ground while leaning to his right.

"Dammit… should've been... ready for that time…" Derek moans as he slowly gets to his feet. Re-Holstering the gun as he looked around his surroundings. All around him was just dense forest that you could only see just a few yards inside. Several rock forms laid around the small clearing he stood in.

A few feet away from him was the Ecto-X1 resting on its side. The bike stopped short before it would've crashed into a rock slab.

"Rachel!?, Leo?!, Mike, Roger?!" He yells out. There is nothing but the sound of birds, insects and running water. Looking through the dense push he could barely see inside the Dark woods.

Reaching down he pulls the walkie talkie on his shoulder strap closer.

"Derek to Leo, come in…"

…

"Derek to Roger, come in…"

…

"Will somebody answer?!" he yells, waiting for a response. For a moment nothing but dead silence filled the air. Till,

 _"*static***** Der-***** Derek? Is that you?!"_ Mike's voice answered.

"Mike, are you alright? Is anyone else with you?"

 _"We're a bit ***** shaken up. I'm with Da-***Danny and Ben. We're stuck in Ecto-4 with a tree jamming the**** rear wheels."_

"Have you tried making contact with the others?"

 _"N-******N-No, I've tried reaching Roger but got nothing. Have you******* tried Leo?"_

Doing so Derek twists the little knob on the side. Each walkie talkie was fitted with a 25 mile radius, so if anyone was on their channels they would clearly hear them.

"Anybody copy?" He asks.

 _"I feel like the floor of a taxi cab."_ Leo's voice answered with a groan on the other side.

"Leo, you guys alright?"

 _"Yeah, at least the new radios are working."_

"No kidding. Any idea where we are?" Derek asks looking around. "Chronicler said about his world, so is this it?"

 _"I'm 76% sure we are in a different Universe." Leo answers. "The level of PKE energy I'm getting right now is that of rivaling the Shandor event. And is way above the average readings for New York. Or Earth."_

 _"So this world is supercharged. Will our packs even work?"_ Mike asks from the other side. It was a issue the team had worked on before because of the different ways the equipment reacts to the environment.

 _"Can't say for sure. The level of energy around us can possibly affect the equipment but not as much as the ghost world. "_

"Alright, that's all well and good. Now are you still with Ecto-7?"

" _Yes. Me, Rachel and Jack's here with Ecto 1. Though getting the truck out of this forest will be a issue."_

 _"Can you track any of us_?" Mike asks through.

 _"Unfortunately no, most of the equipment needs to be rebooted and recalibrated to this world's layout. And I doubt that this world has our satellite in orbit."_

 _"Everyone fire two boson darts. We'll hopefully see where we all are and if it works."_

Agreeing with the idea, Derek pulls his thrower off the bracket and charges the pack. Letting it out its famous activation sound as the cover to the cyclotron popped out for a moment. Indicating the start up.

Aiming to the air Derek plants his feet firmly in the soil. Firing the two blasts of energy.

Waiting for a moment he watches as the two climbed higher. Because of the lack of steam boson darts can fade out over time if it impacts nothing.

But soon enough two more are fired into the night sky. And another pair. One was directly in front of him while the other was just off to the left.

" _Okay, according to these scans we all are approximately 6 miles apart from each other. Derek if you head forward me and Rachel should run into you and Mike at the same point."_

 _"And maybe Roger will see us in the chopper. If he's even made it_." Mike says in frustration.

"Copy that, alright people keep your channels open and packs at the ready. If what Chronicler said and showed is true than we're all in the monsters den now."

"This is just like Shandor Island all over again…" Danny's voice said before cutting the call.

Holstering his gun Derek lifts Ecto-X1 back upright. A few grass stains was apparent but something confused him.

One the bike he could see all 4 of the traps practicality untouched. But yet when reaching his left side he saw there was one hanging from his belt. Another thing was what else was on the bike.

Now in its place sat a small barrel like object with two large claw like arms that linked behind the foot rests. Derek knew for a fact that he left the firehouse without a Super Slammer on the back. On the handlebars sat a smaller version of his proton thrower with a small slime blower that linked to the engine and a green tank on the side

This made him think for a moment as to what was going on.

Said thinking was short lived as his own PKE meter began to blare out. Plucking it out of its holster he scans around.

Each meter has its own sets of color code. Red is for a paranormal entity. Like a ghost or sprit. Green for active samples and blue is for more possessive items. Other colors it has are yellow for an unknown entity that is nearby and not logged. Pink for an environmental defect, like portals or fake objects. And orange for bio toxicity.

As for now the meter was hitting the center bar in a bright yellow. The readings stay mostly to the east of were close enough he could investigate.

Hoping on the bike he clips the meter to the gas tank or in this case display board, powering up the engine he begins dashing into the forest. Weaving by trees as his bike lite up the darkness.

Meanwhile ahead of the leader, the trio were already making headway in finding any trace of slime.

Sparx lite up the woods around the group as they continued.

"Geeze this is pointless. It's fine to do it in the day but the night is just too much…"

"If you're too scared ws can just go back." Cynder says earning a chuckle from Spyro.

"I'm not use to have huge monsters and ghosts chasing us, thank you very much."

As they continued walking through the thick bush, they're eyes were focused on the sky and ground.

"What do you think that light was?" Cynder asks.

"Don't know. I've never seen fire or lightning act like that. But whatever it was it should be around here somewhere."

"I just hope this isn't what the Guardians think it is. It was too much last time with Malefor. And if he has all this slime now, ancestors help us."

Spyro shook at the sudden chill the thought had. He could remember how it all went. But he and Cynder both saw him get dragged into the Well of Souls.

True the whole idea that ghosts are real wasn't something everyone didn't believe. For Spyro, Ignitus was living proof. For Cynder, she lived it. The way the slime acted and made things was something that reminded her of the past.

Reaching up to a clearing they both head to a small slab of rock that stuck out from the ground. Falling on his hunches, Spyro leaned back on the rock. Closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath of the night air.

Cynder sat down beside as she looked up to the two moons. Glowing a bright white as it made even the darkness fade away.

But something had stopped her enjoyment. It was a dark, cold feeling she knew all too will.

"Spyro, there's something here." Cynder says in a deep, concerned tone. Spyro quickly jumps to his claws as he looks around the area.

"There's something over there. In the shadows of the forest, I can feel it." She says as they both looked at the hole in the trees.

Stepping out of the darkness the figure was illuminated by the moonlight. It was a hadra creature that was hunched over. It's face was mostly pulled back as its maw stuck out.

It's body was mostly ash to dark gray with large spots of black. But to top it all off, it wasn't alone. Coming out of the trees several dozen of them all came into the dragon view.

"Apes!?" Sparx yelled flying in the trees. Spyro and Cynder quickly take defensive stances as more began emerging from the dark.

"Well, well, well… look who it is boys. The Legendary Purple Dragon and the former Terror of the Skies." A much larger, bulkier ape said strolling into the moonlight.

"I remember you two all too well. Killing hundreds of my troops. All to get to Malefor from blowing up the planet."

"And if we didn't stop him, you won't still be here." Spyro shouted back.

"Oh, but we would still be here. For as you can see." He draws his sword. Twisting it in his hand to that he impales himself. No scream, no yell of agony or pain. Ripping the sword out he looks down and waits.

In seconds a black gush began leaking onto the ground.

"As you can see, we have been given a new life." The ape smirks. The two were shocked at what they witnessed. It was literal ghosts of the bad guys they fought against standing right in front of them.

"Boys." He shouts, catching each of the few dozen Apes. "Let's show these dragons what death feels like."

Taking evasive maneuvers Spyro rears back as he unleashed a wave of burning red fire to the charging group. The apes quickly turn around if the case of burning alive was fast approaching.

But when one of them came into co contact with the fire, it felt nothing. It jumps forward into the flame. How long in a victory ish tone. Others jump the flames as they charge at the purple dragon.

Cynder was dealing with her own group as she unleashed blasts of wind. The force she let out as enough to cause several Apes to be sent flying back. But others stood their ground as parts of them tore off.

On the far end of the clearing a much bigger ape stood waiting. He slowly approached the spot in front of the dragons as he muttered a quiet word. The word was to quiet to be heard but it made most of the Apes back off.

It stood in place as it reared its head back. It's cheeks and belly began expanding in size. One would think it was just about to explode into pieces.

But instead of blowing, the ape belched out a large blob of slime as it went passed between them. Both looking at each other knowing this was about to get bad.

Another cluster came up from their left and right as each ape copied its companion. Blobs began flying all over as the dragons had to quickly dodge the raining slime.

The two quickly climb higher to get clear. Unknown to them a few Apes had gotten ahead of them. Positioned in their flight path. Each reared back as the launched forward. The two barely have time to react before getting slammed by the Apes.

Their sent tumbling to the ground as they try to rebalance. Taking the clear shot another ape dashes forward to them. Spewing out more slime.

Spyro quickly ducks to avoiding getting hit. But Cynder is hit, the strike slashes across her face. She yelps at contact as she quickly tried removing it.

"You alright?" He asks as she rapidly flung off most of the slime.

"Yeah, just gotta avoid the goo." She responds. But before they could do anything else the ghosts quickly circle around d them.

Some floating in the air while others on the ground continued to leak out.

"Get Them." He says pointing his drenched sword at they. Slowly the they push the two up to a slab of rock that jetted out of the undergrowth. Staying closely together they waited. And waited. And Waited.

But the apes stopped their around if something was coming. The dragons stood there watching, waiting if it was a trap to let their guard down. But soon they began hearing a whining sound from the trees.

Snapping and collapsing trees grew closer and louder as each ape practically forgot about the trio to focus on whatever was coming.

Soon a bright white light with two rapidly flashing blue lights. They were zipping by the trees as at times flashes of orange light caused more trees to fall.

"Be ready! The light nears!" One ape yells as he and others positioned themselves in the way of the light. Said light continued to get closer and closer, till it seemed to stop in their direction.

The group waited as the both sets of lights stared at them. Until both sets went blank. Letting the darkness retake the forest.

The Apes all waited for a moment for the light to return but nothing does.

"If this was your idea of a trick," the leader says looking at the surrounded trio. "Than you have doomed your selves. Finish Th-"

 **' _Ch-ooooommmmm_** _…'_

A large blast of light flies from the brush. Impacting the group of Apes in front of them. But when the smoke cleared where they were nothing but a black spot.

The apes and dragons couldn't believe what had happened. But they didn't have a moment to think about it. In seconds a bright light bloomed to life as a roaring sound erupted from the bush.

Quickly a blue and white mass skids in front of the trio, sending several Apes running. Sitting there with his head hung low and hands on the triggers, Derek eyed the spirits through the Ecto Goggles.

Both Spyro and Cynder were dumbfounded at the thing between them. Derek takes only one look behind him before looking back at the dozens of Apes.

Searching back be pushes down the activators for the two traps that sat on the sides. Soon enough two yellow beams slowly rose from the trap's doors.

"Attack!" One ape yells while running/flying at Derek. Quickly he jerks the handles back as the nozzle over his bike's headlight light sends out a blast of bosons. The ape could barely react to the energy ball as it collapsed into a puff of black smoke before vanishing.

Gunning the throttle, he sends Ecto into the crowd of ghosts. Sending a rain of boson darts.

Several ghost Apes are instantly disintegrated while some of the bigger ones still remained. Keeping to speed Derek was able to easily dodge their attacks between spitting slime and weapons.

Derek had done things like this before on cluster busts. Grouping the entire catch behind so that either the team could wrangle them or he can trap them with the Super Slammer.

Yanking the handles back he sends another dart into another group. On manages to get try and cut him off

Derek leans to the left. Causing the bike to nearly touch the ground as he slide under the Ape's axe.

Straightening it he digs his boot heel in the ground. Forcing the entire to spin around back at the ghost. It barely has time to react as it comes just inches away from the gun. Jerking the handle Derek sends a boson dart at nearly point blank range into the ghost's head.

It's body soon dissolved in thin air as he raced past.

Soon all of the ghosts that weren't destroyed were chasing him. Quickly reaching down he shifts the setting in the cyclotron. Because it has to power the bike, gun and traps the accelerator uses 8 cores instead of 4, allowing a higher output of energy.

Shifting the drive he puts it into two wheel. The motor on the front wheel quickly spins up as Derek rockets forward. Once he had enough distance between the horde he slams the brakes. Skidding into the mud.

Gunning it in reverse he opens the two locked traps. The two sets of doors flip open I'm a bright cone like field that jets out. None of the Apes were capable to stop in time before they were rapidly pulled inside.

Within moments the doors snap shut as each trap lets out a low hiss of smoke. Carefully pulling the goggles down Derek eyed the charged area. Before looking at the two dragons and dragonfly goucking at him.

With the trio their minds had all but shut down by this time. Here they were in a fight they knew they would lose and here comes something that deals with them all.

"Spyro…" Sparx asks.

"Yes?"

"What Just Happened?"

"I have no idea…" he says looking over at Derek. Turning to Cynder he could see the shock in her eyes as well. Looking back at him she could only let out the breath that she didn't even own she was holding.

"Guys." Sparx says pointing at the clearing as Derek slowly approached them. The thrower was still glowing from the heat as he inched closer. Plucking the PKE meter from the display he unhooks the kickstand and slides off the bike, still keeping a hand on the trigger.

Raising the meter up as the yellow screen began to fill. All 3 of them stood still as the wings rose up till what would be like a techno 'ding' sounded.

"Well, I guess Class 1s really don't know how to learn." He chuckles as he holsters the meter. "And if you want to ask anything, now's the time." He waves off to them. They each look at each in confusion.

 _'Are we really doing this?_ ' Spyro glares over to Cynder.

 _'I don't know. Look what he did.'_ She glares back.

' _Pizza_ …'

Both dragons slowly turn their heads to Sparx who was now leaning on the rock with his head hung to the side. Sighing, Spyro steps forward to Derek. In comparison he only reached past Derek's waist.

"Thanks for the save, My name is Spyro. This is Cynder."

"Derek, Derek Stewart." He says reaching his hand out. Spyro lifts his claw up as they shake.

"You're definitely a interesting thing. Even in my time I've seen strangle. And those Class 1s were somewhat stranger."

"Class 1s?" He asks in confusion.

"It's a rank for different types of ghosts." Derek answers.

Before either of them could continue the PKE meter lights up in a flash of red. Pulling the meter the wings quickly rise half way as the lights raced by.

"That doesn't seem good." Cynder says stepping forward. Waving the meter around Derek tries to locate the signal. Till he remembers very important info about how slime acts.

"Oh shit… Everyone get on now!" He yells as he jumps back into Ecto.

"What? Why would we-" before Sparx could finish his question the very ground around them began to violently shake. Just a few yards away the rocky ground was ripping apart as a pool of slime began bubbling out. In no time it grew in mass as a slime monster rapidly grew.

"Go, Go!, GO!" Sparx yelled, flying over and latches onto Derek's hair. Quickly both dragons follow as the latch onto his pack and bike.

"Hang on!" He yells gunning the engine. The bike skids in the soil as the four are launched into the forest.

* * *

In a large flat clearing in the thick forest the 3 Guardians were searching around the area. Volteer was busy trying to locate any trace of slime, Terrador stood in place, meditating as his magic courses through the ground. Meanwhile Cyril was high in the air. Looking for any sign of Spyro and Cynder.

The only thing he saw as a small flash of light that barely lasted 5 seconds. He just shook his head at the thought of this whole slime problem was getting to his head. Lowering back to the ground he strolls up to the two.

"Anything?" He asks as Volteer just sighed.

"Nothing. Not even a sign it anything was here. And the scroll said there was what could be called a black lake here. What do you have Terrador? "

Looking over the two waited for the earth dragon to answer. He slowly turns at his spot.

"The ground beneath us is shattered. Like a earthquake had hit this area. It expands from what I felt miles." he answers back.

"I do not like this. Things are getting stranger by the minute and yet we're here in the middle of a forest."

Cyril and Volteer nod in agreement. At first they honestly thought that all of the events were connected somehow to Malefor. But the way the past two weeks have been has almost blow that theory out of the water.

"We should look for Spyro and Cynder. Ancestors forbid what they might find here." Volteer spreads his wings out, ready to take flight.

"We should- Wait, do you hear that?" Terrador says. Making Volteer stop mid liftoff.

"I can't hear anything." Cyril adds.

"Do you hear that?" Terrador asks lifting his head up. The others quickly become silent as they try to listen.

"I don't- " Cyril starts but is quickly silenced by a loud whining sound that blared from the opposite to them.

The moment they all turned they watch a bright blue and white like exploded from the undergrowth.

The light practically flies across the field. Straight towards them. Each one takes a defensive stance as it rapidly approached. It's speed was so much, the Guardians didn't see it zip between them. Looking over they watch as the object went sideways to its path. The sound of skidding on rock came as dust was kicked up.

Taking careful steps they slowly start seeing the outline if several figures. But once the dust cleared there faces dropped.

Sitting on what the could presume is the back was the two dragons. Cynder had her forward claws wrapped tightly around a gray and black object while Spyro held onto the drum like item.

"That, was, AWESOME! Can we do it again?!" Sparx exclaimed as he flew from the Derek's head. This made all three of them groan in frustration with a scowled look at him.

"Or… not?" He says rubbing his night.

Carefully Spyro slides off the bike, landing back on all fours as his head felt light headed. Cynder on the other hand didn't move. At most she wrapped her claws around the pack to where they were brushing up on Derek's back.

"Uh, Cynder?, you can let go of him now." Spyro said as he poked her side.

"I got this." Derek says opening a small container on the side. Pulling out a Snickers candy bar out. Ripping away the wrapper he lifts it behind him. Waving the chocolate in front of her nose.

 **'**CHOMP**'**

In one swift move she bites down in the entire bar. Just missing his fingers.

"Try better next time to avoid my fingers please?" He asks as she just munched on the bar.

Once she did she slowly let her grip go and finally slid off the back. A slight blush formed on her black cheeks.

"Sorry. Not use to something that fast."

Derek just rolled his eyes at the remark. If he had used the boost god only knows how their reaction to his speed would be.

His attention was quickly drawn to the three new forms standing in front of him. He didn't know how to react to this, Ghostbusting never prepared him for dragons.

Instinct was to heat up the thrower and keep it at the ready. But his thought of starting something that could end badly won the vote. Sliding of Ecto he powers the bike down and takes a single step. Both Spyro and Cynder stood at his left.

"You would not believe what we have been through, tonight." Spyro starts in a mid level of annoyance.

"We could only imagine it was better than ours so far." The ice Guardian said back. "So, who or what is this?"

He points over at Derek. Who had drawn his meter without anyone looking. The wings were quickly rising as the yellow screen flashed again.

"Sorry what. Was getting a Pke scan." He says back. Not looking away from the meter. None of them answered back. Each one was fixed on the device in his hand.

"What is that device you're using?" Volteer curiously asks as he leaned in to look closer.

"PKE meter. Measures Psychokinetic Energy."

"I'm sorry, what?" He says in confusion.

"Ghost Energy." Derek says as bluntly as one could.

"But we're not ghosts." Cyril says with curiosity.

"True but the three of you are reading a Class 9s and them two," he points to Spyro and Cynder, "are reaching Class 11 levels. And the amount of energy in the air right now is so thick that you couldn't cut it with a burning hot sword."

"Believe me," Spyro says getting their attention. "He was a lot more… fightive when he helped yes."

"Yeah, tell them how you were all line Blam and Boom and what not."

Derek didn't answer Sparx's question. He just stared at the meter as the red like flat lined at the stop. Lighting his whole face up in red.

He didn't make a single move, but the ground did. A tremor slowly began building up as the trees all around them shame like in a wind.

Turning on his heels Derek aims the PKE to the same direction they came from. The wings were as high as possible as the treeline began changing.

Knowing something big was coming he re-holsters the device, draws his thrower and powers up the pack. No one seemed to notice as they watch a dark mass leave the tree line and enter the field.

Standing there was the very same black slime monster that the four had encountered earlier. But now it was even Bigger. It's head easily went past most of the tree line that stood a heavy 30 feet.

It's claws were clutching at its sides. As its maw was wide open in a killer grin, showing what looked like a endless black hole.

"Those things just don't stop." Terrador says remembering his own last encounter with on. This one how ever was much bigger compared to the others. It was much more bulkier and had much larger claws and head.

Looking at the group the Guardians instinctively step forward. Like a living wall for Spyro, Cynder and Derek. In a 'I challenging you' type form. The monster instantly lets out a slime filled roar as it dashes towards them.

And it was fast. Most monster were slower the bigger they got. Even with a slime trail in their path to make them slide across the ground. It was charging head on.

Each Guardian quickly built up a elemental breath. Ready to unleash hell on the monster.

 ** _'Ch-oooommmm_ '**

A ball of energy flies just past Terrador and Cyril. The blast is quickly followed by a long thin stream of orange energy.

Both take direct hits on the monster's head, causing it to reel back by the force. The creature brings its claws up to try and block the beam but only causes more slime to fling off.

Everyone's faces dropped as they witnessed the monster being torn apart. But what was more surprising was when they looked down at where the beam was coming from.

Derek stood there just in front of the two dragons firing the particle beam. The pack and gun was flashing varies lights as he walked past the two guardians. Both gladly stepped aside as Derek fired another beam. This one was a much darker blue with a black stream.

Switching modes he opens the pack's slime blower in full force. Still keeping the Stassis and Proton streams on the monster.

As it tried fighting the beams it slowly began to be covered in a blue-purple crystal. It's arms, while still up from blocking the beams, were the first to be frozen. Dashing behind it Derek starts freezing its lower back and legs. The monster tries to reach around but by than it's already frozen in dark matter.

Making sure it's solid he empties the stream till the pack began to steam. The red bars on the side of the gun clip rise quickly to the top as a vent opened on the gearbox with a flashing light.

(Ghostbusters TVG Proton Pack core venting)

A small alarm begins sounding as the cyclotron spins out of its housing. Unlike the normal Proton Pack with the drum, bumper and four lights, the Protonix Packs had a metal dome covering the cores.

(For better understanding, picture the GB2016 pack with its cyclotron on a video game pack but it's solid metal cover.)

The dome splits in 4 half's as they flip open the sides. Letting fog of steam to be dumped out of the pack, revealing the 8 cores that flashed both red, blue and green.

Once it dissipated, the cores slide back inside as the cover closed. Letting the pack's distinct sound to start again. After it vented Derek opens the valve on the blower. Letting it unleash a fire hose of green slime.

The crystal around it slowly begins to crack as chunks began falling off. In one swift move the monster breaks away at the Stassis but is bombard by the slime.

Derek keeps his distance as the monster began moving forward, directly into the stream. It roars out as it arches backwards, letting out a small stream of black slime to fall to the ground.

Taking the chance it flies forward, charging at Derek with its claws out and head low. Derek quickly starts backpedaling as it got closer and closer.

The heat bars on the gun were rapidly rising as the tank emptied out the nozzle. Acting quickly Derek locks the hand grip and covers the double barrel. The cyclotron jets open as 4 of the 8 cores quickly switch from green to a electric light blue color.

The double barrels rapidly build up a ball of energy as it the blower slowly died down. Once the tank was empty Derek pressed down on the alt-fire.

The monster barely saw the beams of electricity rocket out of the gun as it punched into its torso. The beams of lightning make quick work as the monster literally started collapsing

Melting like butter in fire the monster begins falling to the ground. It's legs sinking into a puddle of its own slime as its upper body followed. It tries reaching its claw in the air, acting like there was something to grab. But it clutches nothing but air as it to melted away.

Watching the monster die, Derek vents the pack and switches back to slime blower. Spraying the spot where the monster once was. Stepping closer to the spot he pulls his goggles back over his eyes. Letting the green lights brighten up the area with nothing but a splat like puddle that remained of the slime.

"Guess you weren't expecting that." Derek smirks as he slide the goggles down to his neck.

Meanwhile the group of dragons all were standing there in amazement. Sparx had even fainted in the air.

"Ho-How was that possible?" Cyril asks trying to wrap his mind around it.

"I don't know. I've never seen lightning of that kind do that." Volteer says as Derek made his way back over to them.

"Even me or Volteer combined could barely stop one " Spyro adds in, "And he just… Destroyed it like it was nothing."

As Derek walked up to them he stops for a moment to power down the pack. Holstering the thrower he walks past them to his bike.

"How?" Volteer asls, catching Derek's attention. "How did you do that?"

"What, the monster? Everyone knows that positively charged slime is best against negative charge slime. Common sense." He answers as he unstraps the pack. Setting it across the seat.

"No, Well, yes, um. How did you do those other things. Freezing it and the red lightning?" Terrador was in wonder as to how he did.

"Ever heard of an unlicensed nuclear accelerator?" Derek asks. Receiving Nos' from them.

"Okay… imagine splitting an atom but the explosion it causes is semi controlled and shot out of the end of this gun in a way that it can dissipate ghost energy." He taps the double barrels.

"Okay. How did you freeze it if it fires explosions?" Spyro asks looking closer to the pack.

"Dark Matter." Derek answers without even thinking. The words of this made him rethink getting to close.

"It's effective in the form of Shock Blast when in close quarters. Stassis stream for buying you some time or freezing something. And a Plasma Inductor for the more hectic of situations."

"How on earth did you manage to harness such power?!" Volteer asks stepping closer. Lowering his head to where he was directly over the pack.

"Long story short, was a nerd in science class, made fiction into nonfiction overnight in my garage, went into business when ghost were also apparently real."

"Business? What you hunt ghosts?" Cynder speaks up.

"Close, I, along with my team, bust them with this equipment. We're the police against the paranormal, Ghostbusters."

"Ghostbusters?" Cynder says in a hidden giggle.

"Something funny, black barry?" Derek shoots a eye to her. Making her become quiet.

"I just-wait, what did you just call me?" She glares back.

"Sorry, still trying to match faces with names." He says shrugging at the thought. Though he did know their names from his scan earlier, he didn't however get information on them.

"Well, I guess now is a good of time as any. You've met us already, so now meet the Guardians." The purple dragon says first. "This is Terrador, Volteer and Cyril." Each one nodding at the sound of their names.

"And the dragonfly is Sparx." He says pointing to the glowing bug.

"So, you were the one that latched onto my hair, eh?" Derek says as the bug quickly flew behind Spyro's head.

"Please don't blow me up!" He says sticking his head out. Derek just rolled his eyes at the very thought.

"Won't if you're not a ghost. But anyway, names Derek Stewart. And of course, I'm a Ghostbuster. "

"So was that you who made that blast of energy earlier. Into the sky I mean." Spyro asks.

"Yep. Normally in a situation like this we would use Boson Darts to find each other. Pop two in the he air and follow to the other. Oh that reminds me."

Reaching over the back he pulls the gun back off the pack. Switching on the equipment everyone shivers by a strange chill as the lights lite up.

Aiming straight up he fires another set of bosons into the air. Venting as they rose up. In just moments another set came to view.

"More of your group?" Terrador says looking at the light.

"Yep. When we came here we were separated. Right now there's three other groups out there. One we still don't know of if he's okay."

At that moment another flash lite up the sky. This time it was several bosons firing randomly.

"And we're now not." he says as he quickly put the pack on. He snatches the closes trap on the back and clips next to the one already on his belt.

The PKE begin rapidly flashing red before switching to yellow and back again. Plucking it off he brings it into view if the others.

"Um.. Is it supposed to do that?" Cynder asks as it continued.

"Only when Hell is about to break lose."

Derek answers as he pulled the goggles back over his eyes. Walking out past the dragons. He waves the meter on different directions as the wings bounced at the spikes.

"What the heck is he doing?" Sparx asks as Derek went down on one knee. Scanning the ground.

"He's searching for something." Spyro rolled his eyes at pointing out the obvious. But to them they did see Derek stand back up in a ready position.

"What the-" before Sparx could finish, the air was quickly cut by a ear piercing roar. Each one of them froze as the roar died down. Once it did the trees in across from them began whipping around like caught in a strong wind.

The gust quickly races across the field as it impacts the group. Nearly knocking Derek off balance. Regaining said balance he watches as the area of trees quickly collapse.

His eyes widen behind the goggles at the sight of the new creature. It was a blood red and black Screecher. A Class 7 Aerial Ghoul. But this one was huge. Most would be in the form of stone creatures, like the Gargoyles, but this was in the shape of something bigger.

It was almost like a dragon was covered in black slime.

"Well this day just keeps on getting more interesting." He says quickly drawing his thrower.

"This oughta be fun." taking aim he sends a boson dart with a proton stream. The blast hits the Screener square in the chest as the beam tried to coil around it. But when it goes to wrangle the creature it literally cancels itself out. Letting the beam focus back.

Derek grips the trigger under the main handle, activating manual wrangling.

(The main handle on the gun has a finger cover like you would have on a rifle. A trigger for alt-3, a palm grip for wrangling and the cover for venting. Just like reloading a rifle.)

But to his misfortune it gets the same result of the coil breaking up. To him this was something that shouldn't happen at all. Basic steps is just to grab them and smash them.

Letting another roar the creature jumps into the air. Avoiding a boson dart as it flies over him. Wrapping its wings around it's body it slowly starts fading. Its body replaces with nothing but the starry night.

Looking around he tries locating it through the goggles.

 _'Where are you_ …' he mutters under his breath. Reaching up he switches the goggle's setting. Going into thermal as the screen changes from green to a bright set of color. Looking every he tries to find the invisible ghost.

When he looked over to the group the view was flooded with color. Each dragon have off a deep red and orange. The two larger ones, Terrador and Cyril were much colder. Cyril looked like he was just frozen.

But what caught his attention was the large purple mass rising behind them.

"Behind You!" he yells firing another stream. They all duck as the beam rockets by. It stops mid air as the Screecher quickly became visible again. Trying the wrangler again he manages to coil around it's head. Yanking back the thrower he throws it over the group.

It fights against the stream as it begins flying around. Derek tries to hold his footing as the Screecher flew higher.

Slamming it back down he launched the ghoul at the ground. Making a shower of dirt and slime to blow out at the impact of its head.

Lifting the gun up he rises the creature of few meters before smashing it back down. The Screecher stops moving in the beams grip, motionless like it's neck had snapped.

Taking a chance he lets off of the stream. Letting it go as he quickly vented. Switching Moses he goes slime blower, in case if it would act like the monster. Reaching down he unhooks his Saber Trap.

Unlike normal ghost traps, Saber Traps are much more powerful. They can even be supercharged by the pack's Electron Beam making the capture field almost unescapable. Another is how it can be like a ghost tornado and hold entities.

While these traps were still fairly new Derek was usually the only one to use the Adaptor equipment. Like the Ion cannon on the pack.

Switching the knob to maximum he throws the trap over near the Screecher. Letting out it's indicator beam, ready for capture.

But once the trap was set the meter began blaring. Derek paid no attention as he double shifted back into proton, Wrangling it's head once more. To even his surprise it coiled around its entire body. The added weight made Derek grunt with the added mass but easily pick it up.

By now it has but regained some energy and began thrashing in the beam.

"Come on big boy! I'm gonna take you home to my private zoo!" He yells as the Screecher dashed hard to the left. The sudden move causes Derek to land hard on the ground as his thrower lets go.

The Screecher instantly takes aim at him as it dive bombs at him. Acting swiftly he rolls back onto his feet, grabbing the thrower and firing a small slime mine from the blower. It does very little but anger it even more.

"Oh Crap…"

' _ **WHAAAAAM**_ '

He's sent flying across the field. Landing hard on the pack as the health bars dropped. Groaning in slight pain he twists himself back up. Once up he looks back at the creature, staring him down.

"Is that the best you got!?"

It responds with a deafening roar as it unleashed a flood of slime from its mouth. Dashing back to avoid the goo he watches as it circles around the Screecher. In seconds much smaller forms start building from the slime. Along with more Apes and even its original gargoyle forms.

Each one let out a screech as the horde all stared down the Ghostbuster. Derek felt like he just shot himself in tk foot at saying those words.

" _Note to self, don't be like Thor in Avengers 2."_ he mumbled as he quickly switched to full slime. The cores of the pack glowing back to a deep green.

Taking aim he waits for any of them to try anything. Most were Class 2s, fairly simple and easy to deal with. But in the case of having several dozen with a giant Class 7, made it hard to keep them at bay.

The main Screecher let out another loud roar at him. Making several ghosts to charge at him. He goes to fire but is stopped.

A bright light surrounds the area around him. Even making some ghosts stop.

"I guess I'm just in time for a party, eh?" A voice on Derek's shoulder radio says out loud. Quickly two large flashes of orange erupt from the light source. Instantly destroying a large portion of the horde.

Derek lets out his own fire as the slime disintegrated ghost after ghost. The blasts quickly change out as a long proton stream raced over him, coiling around the Screecher. Taking his chance Derek wrangles around it again. Giving it a hard slam.

Quickly he brings the Screecher back over the trap. Letting it be touch by the yellow beam. It instantly drops as a bright light erupts out.

The creature struggles with all the straighten it had as the trap cone slowly pulled it down. But it wasn't alone, any of the remaining ghosts were instantly sucked inside the doors as the Screecher itself let out one final roar.

It's tail is first to go as the entire mass followed. In one brief flash the doors close behind it. Letting out a puff of smoke and a small red light.

Derek took in one large breath in as he sighed in relief. But the moment was short as a huge gudt of wind kicked up. Looking above him he watches as the light lowered closer to the ground.

The sound of spinning propellers powering down filled the air as Derek slowly approached the chopper. It was a complete white save for the tail a bright red and the nose black. On the sides sat the no ghost logo with the word 'Ecto-2A' was painted in reflective green.

Once the blades had stopped, the side cockpit door flips open. Jumping out was 27 year old with tanish skin and pulled back black hair. His suit was much like a normal uniform save for the reflective orange lines that went across his arms, chest and legs.

"Derek? Is that you?" Roger asks walking to him. Derek instantly runs over to him his arms out.

"Dammit man don't you ever check your radio? I thought you were down for the count." He says letting go.

"Sorry about that. Radios got screwed up and I could answer back. But I did track the siginals though. You were the closes."

"Well, its a good thing you came at the right time. Didn't think that would happen."

Walking around he goes past the chopper as he picks up the still smoking trap. Heading back as he clips it on to his belt.

"I thought Screechers couldn't be captured?" Roger asks. Recalling at what happened.

"Their usually not covered in a thick layer of Black Slime either." Derek adds, " wonder if this involves the problem that dragon told us about... What are you looking at?"

Roger's expression had dropped from calm and collective to complete shock. Nodding to the side Derek spins around to see the same group of dragons still standing there. Mirroring Roger's own face.

Meanwhile the group was beyond dumbfounded. Each one had given up on trying to think about what happening before them till each one gave up.

"That... Was... AMAZING! Sparx shouted out. Acting like he was holding a proton gun and how Derek acted. "He was all like _Slam_ and then like _WHAM!_ That was one of the coolest things ever!"

Spyro was thinking the same thing for a moment, but pushed the thought to the side. What really made him think was how Derek used such powe in such a way. Cynder on the other hand just stared at Derek. More specifically, the hanging trap. The moment the Screecher came she instantly locked up. Watching as it moved like a Shadow till poof, Gone.

"Spyro..." She says getting his attention. "That... Thing. It looked exactly like my dark form."

"I know. But how was that possible. First monsters and ghosts now Apes and other dragons. What IS going on?"

"As much as we would like to know." Terrador spoke up, "We got company." He points over to the busted tree line. The patch of forest quickly glowed in multiple lights. A mix of red, blue and yellow broke out of the bush with two sets of bright white punched from the undergrowth.

Flash of orange and blue soon became solid as the same thing sound from the Ecto-X1 became louder.

' _ **VRRRROOOOMMMM'**_

Two white masses erupt from the trees. Racing side by side as they headed towards the chopper. They quickly arrived there, skidding all tires into the mud.

"Derek, Roger?" Jack's asked out as he jumped out of Ecto-1. In Ecto-4 the others quickly followed in suit as the all gathered around the vehicles.

"Thank god you're all alright. Where's Rachel and Leo?" Derek asks looking at the cars as if someone would just pop out.

"They're both back at the trailer. Leo sent me out to find you guys and well… mission accomplished."

Derek just rolled his eyes at Jack's answer. The 6 Ghostbusters stood there for a silent moment before someone spoke up.

"Guys." Ben asks. Pointing to the air.

"Yes?"

"DRAGONS!" He yells pointing over to the group that stood there. Derek by now was a little surprised that they were still here. Most would run away or get chased away.

Quickly Mike, Danny and Ben pull their throwers out. Taking aim as they powered up. Acting fast Derek leans his gun over theirs. Pushing them to the ground.

"Hold Your Fire! They're friendlies." he shouts out standing in front of them. If it was to spiral into a argument or worse Derek tightened his grip. The pack's were never met for real man to man fighting, risking the streams crossing for too long could discharge a backlash that can knock both down.

"Stand, Down." he repeated. Looking at each other for a moment they slowly reclip their guns.

"Now, before with start shooting everything up, we've made our first contact."

Looking over his shoulder he nodded to the dragons to come to him. At first they didn't move but Spyro himself saw it and slowly walked over. Followed by Cynder and the other Guardians.

"Dude, Where's Ecto-X1? " Danny was always the one to be worried about the team's cars. He would work day after day fine tuning each vehicle down to the last bolt.

Remembering where he left it, Derek pulls out a small keychain with the GB logo hanging. Pressing the ghost's head it flashes green.

Behind the group, the bike roared to life. Dropping the claw on the left side the bike guns its rear wheel as it dugg the claw down. Once it turned towards the direction of the busters it guns the throttle.

The dragons barely have time to react as it raced by Spyro and Terrador. The bike easily reaches them as it pulls up beside Derek. Shutting down as both claws dropped.

"Still think the return switch was a waste of money?" Danny says with a smirk of satisfaction.

"For the fifteen thousand you put in it, I could be Batman for Halloween."

Danny just rolled his eyes knowing he was right. By now the others were slowly stepping up. Everyone but Derek stood back as they stared at the three much bigger dragons. Terrador, the biggest, was easily as big as Ecto 2.

"Guys," Derek says to his team. "Meet Terrador, Volteer and Cyril. And the two smaller ones are Spyro and Cynder."

None of them said anything. Shock was written all over their faces as they stared.

"This is part of my team. Mike Docks, Roger Donny, and Ben and Danny Smith." He points to each one with their name.

"Umm… Hi..?" Spyro says breaking the ice first. The busters either waved their hands or said a small 'Hello' or 'Hi'.

"Well… this is awkward." Roger says leaning on Ecto's door. Each one of them could agree.

"So, can anyone of you tell us where-"

' _ **BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP'**_

Cut off by the sound of their meters going off everyone checks. Each one showed a dark red line at the base of the screen. The lights flickering higher as the wings lite up.

"We should get back to the trailer." Mike suggests heading back to the truck.

"Agreed. With the massive bulge in these spikes we're not safe out in the open."

Placing the PKE back on he faces the dragons.

"I suggest that you all come to. If this place is filled with Screechers and Monsters nothing living is safe. Just try to follow us or Roger." Derek said hopping into the bike. Each one of them hopped back inside each Ecto as the all powered up.

The dragons were still amazed and confused as to what the things were and how they had such lights. Especially for the helicopter.

Mike and Jack were the first to head into the woods. Using the same path they cleared with the Meson Cannon.

"Try to keep up." Derek pulls the throttle he speeds down the field and into the forest. Meanwhile Roger was already powering up the chopper as the main Blades began spinning. Standing back in concern the dragons watch as the chopper slowly lifts into the air. Hovering it faces the same fire tion before gradually flying away.

The Guardians had now given up any possibility of rational thought.

"Do we follow them?" Sparx asks peeking from Spyro's head again. He just looked up at the Guardians for the answer.

"I suppose we should. They possess powers that clear are capable of destroying monsters. And we could learn how they do it."

Volteer made the most complicated 'yes' for them.

Spreading their wings they each took to the air. Following the beam of light from the chopper as they raced over the trees to catch up with the Ghostbusters.

* * *

Spyro, Cynder, the Guardians, and Sparx meet the leader Protonix Ghostbusters. And he, or anyone aren't your average ghostbusters.

The way the team is made to work is for each member to be able to handle large tasks by themselves. Making them be more like elite military soldiers busting ghosts.

So Derek fighting black slime incarnations of Apes, a 29 foot slime monster, and what would be considered a Black Slime Dragon by himself would be normal even if Roger was there in Ecto 2.

I also added it to where some energy based powers/elements can affect ghosts because the Electron Beam is the Ghostbusters version of tamed lightning, So some dragons can fight ghosts but not do much damage because the busters has theirs tuned to the structure of the ghost's own energy. So dragons like Volteer and Spyro can deal damage but not kill.

Another change in compared to other teams is how the equipment is designed. The packs do function like normal packs but are decked out with a lot of different things. One is 'Cross Modding', where instead of firing one mode it can fire up to all four modes at once. So you can have a Proton stream, Stassis stream via the double barrel thrower, a Slime blower and Meason Collider all at once.

This is allowed because of how again the packs are designed. Each pack would have a different set up on the left shoulder. Mostly it would be a secondary slime tank, a spare trap or in Derek's case a 'sentry' like ion blaster that can fire one of the several modes at the same time as the gun. This is actually used by Alex in the IDW Ghostbusters comics at times.

Other gear is like the trap's have other modes as well. Including the default 'hold till it reaches the bottom' function, Sabar traps can act like a ghost tornado holding several entities in the trap cone without capture. This means that 4 ghosts at different times can be slammed by separate busters to the base where they can be captured by smaller doors.

Other info on things like the vehicles, helicopter and etc may be discussed next time.


	4. Ghosts Fear Us

Both worlds have now met. Spyro and gang meet a Ghostbusting team that would put all to shame. Witnessing just one of their members power, the dragons wonder what the others would be like.

Warning: Possible Errors Ahead.

* * *

Chapter 4: Ghosts Fear Us

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Meanwhile, The get their first taste of what the problem is. But while they seem to handle it, stranger things begin popping up as they to wonder where the slime was coming from.

As the the 3 vehicle convoy continued its way through the thick forest. Danny for the time stood in the back of Ecto-4, not holding back as he fired endless rounds of meson pulses.

Unlike the pack's mode, the truck's cannon was much more like a gatling gun than a single thrower. It could fire in tandem large bursts of the Overload Pulse that, and with the Meson Combustor,

( If you played the 2009 GB:TVG Multiplayer, it's the meson Collider that fires huge balls of energy.)

Would clear a whole city's block worth of traffic in minutes. Using it against the trees and plant life in the forest was like a flame thrower in a paper factory.

Mike on the other hand had his sunglasses on at night. The constant flashes and spot lights put a strain on his eyes. Ben how ever was leaning against the side of the door, sound asleep.

" _How Much further?"_ Derek asked over the truck's radio. Plucking the hand mic off the dash Mike answers,

"Should be any moment. Clearing this shortcut might of offset our direction. "

" _Great… Roger, do you have anything?"_

Up inside the chopper, Roger was already scanning ahead for the semi's signal.

"Should be about a hundred or two yards ahead. "

" _Copy that."_

In the air, the dragons were steadily flying just in view of the convoy. Trailing a few dozen yards behind Ecto 2.

They watched as the team cyt through the forest. Not minding anything in their path.

"A bit destructive." Terrador mumbled. He liked nature. He was born in it, molded by it, and to see it just get knocked down like nothing pulled a few nerves.

"As that maybe, they do seem to possess strong 'fire' power." Cyril says over to the earth dragon.

In the back was the purple and black dragons. Their eyes were fixed mostly on Ecto-X1. The head, tail lights and Derek's pack was the only real visible light it gave off.

"I still don't understand." Cynder says out loud.

"How can something like… whatever they use, stop something like those creatures?" Looking over to Spyro he too wondered.

"I guess they've dealt with monsters too. I mean ghost could just mean the whole 'supernatural' and ghosts and monsters are just part of it." It made sense in his head. For Cynder it worried her a little.

Back in the ground the team had quickly covered more ground. Soon the trees began clearing out as they approached a clearing.

"We're here." Mike says to everyone. Danny had already cleared away the last of the brush as they rolled into the large opened area. It was mostly rock with several large jabs that stood out from the edge of the trees.

Parked next to largest one, the white and red semi truck stood in a mess if dust and dirt. The expandable compartments were fully out as the rear door was completely down.

Both Ectos pulled to the sides as Derek drove up to the trailer. Roger on the other hand hovered closer to the ground, directly above the truck. On the roof just above the wheels two large hydraulic panels slowly unfolded. Folding out to make a large pad that the chopper carefully sat down on.

By now each of the dragons landed down in front of the path cleared. Their eyes widened at the sight of Ecto-7. It was much larger than the chopper and Ecto-1 together and stood just below Cyril's chin. Him being the smallest of the group. Derek quickly hopped off his bike and headed straight to the open door.

"Leo…" he said. But was quickly stopped at the sight before him. Tons and tons of wires laid hanging or running all over the trailer. The equipment storage cases remained untouched with two proton packs and several traps inside while the lockers on the opposite side were covered in cables. Making his way through the electronic webs he walks over to the PCU.

(Portable Containment Unit)

"Leo, Rachel?" He said once more. A grunt from one of the control units made him turn to see a pair of indigo legs slide out

"Derek?" Rachel said climbing to her feet.

"Rachel." He repeated. He instantly wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. She returned did the same. Leaning into his shoulder.

"I'm so glad to see you made it." She says as the broke.

"You too. But I did run into a little trouble." He said tapping the second trap. "Unit still work?"

"Just got finished rebooting it. Try it out."

Stepping forward Derek unhooks the trap from his belt. Grabbing the L handle he pulls down the main hatch. Inside was a set of clamps that would lock the trap down while the black box inside the unit would pump anything inside the trap out.

Sliding the whole box in the closes the main hatch as a red light lite up. Engaging the laser grid and locking the energy field inside he pulls down the main flush lever. Making the light green as a clanking sound indicated the trap was pumped.

"So where's Leo?" As if on cue one of the storage closet doors swings open. Leo stood in there with a small flashlight in his teeth with a pair of pliers and wire cutters. Wires were draped over his shoulders as a bright spark caught him.

"Ow, dammit." He mumbled as he steps out.

"Rachel do we have any-" he stops mid sentence as he looked at Derek in the eye. The flashlight drops from his mouth as he wraps one of his free arms around him.

"God damn, didn't Ray or Peter teach you anything about making deals."

"Sorry. I guess I went head first again."

Derek runs the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"So what's the verdict on this thing?" He looks inside the small space. Compared to what he saw on the back the truck was as bad as when he arrived at the firehouse.

"The main systems are some what working. The grid and accelerator are fully up. Some of the equipment is a bit beaten up and so forth but overall intact. The cannon and disruptors however are completely off line. Been trying to get them up right now."

"Hey guys." Mike calls out, stepping inside the messy trailer. "You forgetting something?" He asks.

"Oh right. Um, Leo, Rachel, follow us." Squeezing past Leo even with a pack he heads out to the ramp. The two look at each other as they soon follow.

Once outside they got a view if the vehicles that circled them. Jack and Roger were busy getting a fire going while Ben was gathering firewood. Danny was back on Ecto-4 checking the cannon.

"Okay guys, a little warning, they're not going to eat you." Derek says as he walked around. Leo gave him a raised brow as the step out.

Both Rachel and Leo's faces dropped to the ground. Standing their on the other side was the group of dragons, staring at them curiously. Derek eaves them over as they stroll past the others.

"Guys, meet Spyro, Cynder, Sparx, Cyril, Terrador and Volteer."

"Lady and gentlemen, meet my head scientist Leo Johns and Historian/ Medic Rachel Bucker."

"Hello." Rachel answered in the best way she could. Looking at each on Leo on the other hand pulled out his Pke meter to get readings. But Derek just pushes it down

"Don't bother with that. I already got a scan in all 5."

"Head scientist?" Volteer says loud enough for them to hear. "What kind of scientist are you?"

"I'm have a PhD in Energy Physics and The study if the Paranormal."

Leo was practically Egon Jr. to the team. He was the one who helped Derek even try to create a working proton pack. To Volteer, it was a sign from God.

"Finally!" He exclaims catching everyone's attention. "Someone that can understand my type of work!"

"Umm… and what might that be? Leo asks wondering what the yellow dragon meant.

"The studies of different electronic anomalies and powers." Volteer answers back. Leo's eyes soften at the very words he lived on during school.

"You two are gonna get along just fine." Derek said in amusement.

After the little introduction the two headed back into the trailer. Leaving the others with the dragons.

"Don't do it Ben." Mike said behind them. They turn to see Ben holding his proton gun up right next to the fire pit.

"It will work." He relied with confidence. He places the gun just above the ground as the barrel was just inches away. Gently wrapping his finger around the trigger he taps once-

' _ **Ch-oooommmm'**_

Mike had just moments to duck as the stack of firewood exploded into flames. Logs flew everywhere while everyone just stared at Ben.

"Oops." He said opening his eyes. Black soot covered his face as while as a 2 foot circle around the blast.

"Give that thing before you shot somebody!" Mike takes the thrower out of Ben's hands as he takes the pack over to the Ectos. Ben stayed there in frustration as Spyro and Cynder walked up.

"Here, let me.* the purple dragon leans back as he let out a low flame from his mouth. Ben instinctively jumped back as he watched the remaining wood catch fire.

"Right, dragon. Completely forgot. "

Spyro smirk at the moment as Danny brought over another load. Stacking extra next to the bike and trailer. Slowly the others walks over and sat around the roaring flame.

"Well," Roger starts, clapping his hands together. "Why not tell us about you all?" He says to the dragon.

Back inside the trailer, Leo had finished rewiring and clearing most of the cables. Derek was tending to the gear while Rachel was looking around for the one thing the team put away like there was no tomorrow.

Food.

If the team had their own version of Slimer, he won't have anything to hork down before the team would devour mist if the good stuff.

"Hey Leo!" She shouts, forgetting he was just 4 feet away. "where's all the food?"

"It should be in there!" He shouts back. Rachel searches through the various cabinets for anything. Most were empty save for a few cans of veggies.

Opening the refrigerator she was greeted by the same scene except for two cases of drinks. Derek pocks his head over the door to see the contents inside. Reaching in he plucks a bottle of Pepsi from the door.

"So anything or na?" He swings the bottle up. Taking in a large gulp.

"*sigh* nothing but a couple of cans of beans. Some corn and a loaf of two day old bread." She says closing the fridge door. By than Leo step into the kitchen with a sheepish grin.

"Um.. I know this might be a bad time. But when I was cleaning out the truck I… kinda took out all of the food."

Derek and Rachel both shot him death glares as he slid back into the unit room.

"Baked Beans it is." Derek heads back out of the trailer. As Rachel began cooking all cans of beans the others were enjoying the show.

"So you all control a different elemental force? Fascinating." Jack said as he wrote down everything on a notepad. The busters were all relaxing around the fire as the conserved with the dragons.

"Indeed. But most are born into just one element. At times they could master two." Cyril responds.

"Damn, what would you think Sony would do if they made this into a movie?" Danny asks in stupidity wonder. Before anyone answers Derek squeezes by them. Sitting down on a log that sit in front of his bike.

"Then Ghostbusters 7 would be made." He jokes. "So what have you a been talking about?"

"These guys are awesome." Ben bluntly says.

"An interesting species at that. Did you know magic actually exists here?!" Jack didn't look from his notebook as he doted things down.

"Really. Well, I guess that means we really aren't in New York." Derek jokes.

"What's New York?" Spyro asks curiously. The others seemed interested as they too leaned in to hear. The other busters all waited as they knew what was about to happen again.

(FYI this next part will be more like a Q&A than the story just to fill in info about the team and past events. Mostly Derek will answer but others will toss in their two cents.)

"You won't know. It's a city in our world."

He says waving it off like it was nothing.

"Your world? So that means…" Cynder asks thinking what they thought.

"Aliens? Not really in some case but yes. Why, no humans in this world?"

They nod no.

"...And another piece of needed info out the window. All thanks to a really old dragons." he sighs.

"Who was it?" Spyro asks.

"A really gray dragon called… dammit I forgot it already. "

"His name was the Chronicler, a Class 14 Dimension Watcher." Leo strps out of the trailer. Holding his large Pke.

(Leo uses a meter a lot more like the RGB cartoon.)

"What, you met the Chronicler!" He gasps, looking back and fire between lek and Derek.

"We all did. He plucked us from our world and into his realm. In which we got sent here." Derek answers back.

"But why would he do that?" Terrador wondered.

"Black Slime." Derek said bluntly

"Black Slime? You mean this stuff that's been popping up all over Avalar." Sparx added.

"Exactly. But from the 3 different entities I've encountered tonight, this world as a infestation on its hands "

"What can you tell us about this, Black Slime?" Volteer asks. He wanted to confirm something that was bugging him since they first found the crystal in the cave weeks ago.

"Leo," Derek looks over to the scientist.

(Warning: long explanation.)

"Black Slime comes in two forms. Slime and a energy based form called Black Ecto. Black slime is the primary state, it's the liquid form of anger, death, and hatred. It can be used in some ways as to increasing the power of an entity that is strong enough to control it. It can spawn its own forms of creatures between spider like crawlers to ghosts to monsters. If concentrated enough it can rip open into a portal to the ghost world, allowing anything to pass through. Black Ecto is slightly different. Unlike its slime counterpart it can be used to supercharge paranormal activity that it comes into contact with. Ghosts that come out of portals tends to have this form until they can absorb enough energy to merge with black slime. It's still unknown how the stuff is made but it can be refined to make Mood Slime."

Volteer didn't say a word. He got the most clearest answer he and the others could get. They were more surprised at what Leo mentioned including opening portals to another world.

This has made their theory about Malefor quickly reignite. He possessed enough dark power as it was. For him to gain the control of Black Slime made it almost unthinkable to them.

"What would happen if one was to come into contact with it?" Terrador asks. Wandering back to when he was sliced by the monster's hook.

"Only a idiot would directly touch it. It's deadly ghost matter that is very harmful to both the body and soul. A small touch would make one thing they were just touched by lava. A decent amount would be like having your head removed and you would still be alive to feel it. If covered in a large quantity for a long period time can result into either psychical death, in which your soul is combined with the slime to turn you into a ghost. Or you become what we call Striders, or in an imaginative mind, a Slime Zombie."

This made Terrador's emotion literally drop. The stuff was that of liquid death that could kill. He knew something was troubling when he first had the wound looked at. But now his fear was slowly rising.

"You alright, Terrador?" Spyro looks up at the earth dragon. Worry was in his voice with the looks of worry from the others. This quickly caught the attention of the Ghostbusters as they too looked up at him.

"Terrador." Leo says aiming his meter to him. The wings of the antenna spike up as the red tops rapidly flashed. Mike and Danny both slowly stand up as they drawed their throwers. Switching directly to slime blower.

The others slowly back away as the Guardians watched with narrow eyes. Derek pulled over his ecto goggles as he scanned the dragon. The screen showed a large black spot just under his right wing. The human's eye was meant to only get so big, but Derek's were practically out if their sockets. His entire side was webbed with black veins that ran from a larger, covered up gash.

"Oh my god…" Derek quietly said.

Both Leo, Derek and Danny rush over to the dragon's side to inspect the wound. Leo waved the Pke over it as the wings went parallel with the main arm.

"How long have you had this?" Leo questioned Terrador.

"*sigh* About two weeks." He answers.

The Ghostbusters eyes widen in shock. Leo spins on the spot as he dashed over to the truck. Derek on the other hand quickly reached down into his suit pockets. Pulling out a 5 inch long switchblade.

"Listen very carefully, Terrador. Sit down and don't move as much as possible." Derek says looking over the gash. The sternness in his voice was enough to make Terrador do exactly that.

"What are you doing?" Cyril asks, not taking his eyes off the human.

"Who ever healed his wounds forgot to drain the residue out. If this is Black Slime and he's not dead yet is amazing."

Derek takes the knife flat to the dragon's wound as he carefully peeled back the cover. Terrador grunted in pain as he heard what sound like gushing. Looking back he saw Derek step back as a mix of black and gray liquid poured into the ground. Stepping to the side he continues to open the wound as more and more came out.

Once he peeled off the dried/dead skin the last of the slime had poured out. Danny casually walked over and fires a stream of green slime at the newly formed puddle. The slime bubbles together as they both slowly disappeared. Leo finally emerges from the trailer. On his back was three giant tanks that connected to a larger sprayer like on the proton guns

"I thought you scrapped that thing for parts?" Derek asks Leo. Looking over the large slime blower pack.

"This is Mark 4, Gabe helped me work on the new mixture." He responds. Pacing over to his side Leo aims the blower at the opened wound. Before anyone could question him he pulls back the release valve. A jet of pinkish white slime slurs out as it covers over the gash. To Terrador it felt like someone was rubbing ice over exposed flesh. The pink slime did quick work with the wound as traces if the infection faded.

Derek takes one last scan before confirming.

"There, that should do for now. Just keep it cleaned and aired out for about a week and it'll be fine." He says as the trio walked back over to the fire.

"What… what did you do to me?" Terrador could feel a tingle in his side now. The pain was completely gone as a warmness came over him. Like a new happiness was growing inside him.

"In a word or two saved your life. Black Slime on the outside's one thing but on the inside it's a death wish." Derek states. Pulling the goggles over his forehead.

"Our slime is a positive charged form that we refined from tests with the black slime. The pink slime I just used was refined from mood slime while the pack's run on a more concrete." Leo chips in. "We use it for neutralizing black slime or ecto, sealing portals and even unpossessing people."

Now it's was thinking dragons turn to be surprised at the situation. If the slime they use can kill the creatures the black slime makes, then their problem can be solved.

"Foods Ready!" Rachel shouts out of the trailer. Instantly everyone stops what they were doing and run to a seat around the fire.

Rachel walks out of the trailer with a large pot in one hand and a stack of bowls in the other. Placing the pot she hands out the bowls to everyone.

"Be ware, this is most likely the last of the food." She says as she pours the beans into each one.

The smell of the beans slowly made its way to the others as they raised their nByes to inhale the scent. After everyone got their bowls she past out forks for them. But instead everyone except Mike and Rachel brought the bowls to their lips and ate. Each one didn't stop until all the contents were gone. Rachel rolled her eyes at how the guys eat.

"I swear Slimer would call you all brothers at how you eat." She raises a fork full of beans. By now Spyro and Cynder had gotten closer to the pot. Looking down they saw the food sitting there.

"What is this stuff? It smells great but… looks like crap."

"Hey," Rachel exclaims. "My cooking is not crap!"

"It was that one Christmas." Slowly turning she looks over to Mike. Who quickly stuffed his mouth again.

"Here, try some." She says holding out two spare bowls. Filling each one with the last of the beans. Looking it closely the two couldn't decide if they would forget it or die eating.

Cynder was the first to try as she sticked a claw in it. Pulling out she puts it to her lips, tasting it.

"Not bad…" she soon pulls the bowl over and devours the food. Spyro shrugs as he too does the same.

"Mmm, Spicy." He says setting the bowl back on a rock that was beside him.

"Sorry that we don't have anything for you guys." Rachel looks at the 3 guardians.

"It's not trouble. We can go for sometime without eating." Volteer waves the issue off.

"So, are you all Ghostbusters?" Cynder thought about it. It was as obvious to anyone but she still didn't think that the 8 people in front of her was what they said.

"We're the Protonix Ghostbusters." They say together for a more dramatic effect

"Protonix? What the heck does that mean?" Sparx pointed out at the new, extended name.

"It means we like to use Very power equipment that most Ghostbusters won't use on a daily bases." Danny beats Derek to the punch.

"And it depends on who you're talking about." Leo adds in. And he wasn't wrong.

"What do you mean? Aren't you who you say you are?" Cyril looks back to Derek.

"Earlier when I said I made fiction into nonfiction?" He asks. Each dragon nods.

"In our world, up until 6 years ago, Ghostbusting never existed. It was a entertainment franchise with movies, games, TV shows and a lot more. It was fake. But a few years ago I changed that when I first made the world's first real working Proton Pack.

But in the franchise their was other teams. The originals, Extreme, and several others. We got to meet all of them during a huge 'End of the World' kind of bust once. So if it's anything to go by, the eight of us are the first real Ghostbusters in history of the Human race."

"Fascinating, absolutely fascinating." Volteer marveled in his head at what science the team's hardware held.

"Are there any others like you guys?" Sparx spoke up. Flying around them.

"There are 3 other chapters that work for us in different cities. One works with us in spare times. There's the Liberty Ghostbusters that's a team of 7 in our country's capital, Washington DC. The Allegheny Ghostbusters of 5 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. They even use our old headquarters when we were there back when we started. The Patriot Ghostbusters in Boston, Massachusetts. Their a another team of 6 but only 2 are official. And the Rogue Ghostbusters, their a third party in our team of 8 to 12 whenever paranormal activity heavily increases. "

Derek knew each and everyone of the people in the different factions. He and the others trained them in New York during the Cross Worlds event to help with the work. But after the job was done they decided to branch out.

"So a whole team of about 30. It was hectic then but now it's not that bad." He recounts the way the firehouse was like.

Spyro was surprised at the info that there was others like them. He somewhat trusted the team of 8 that they could help. But to have a small army if 30 of the people who can do what he and the others saw Derek do. He was honestly thinking at Avalar would of been like if they were here when Malefor first returned.

"So what do we do now?" Ben's question hit everyone. "We still have no idea what to do. We have no base, supplies are all but now gone. And if we are dealing with another infestation if slime here, then how the hell are we gonna Stop IT WITHOUT **ECTO 6?**!" His outburst made even the dragons sit back. He was right in all cases. Mostly with Ecto-6.

The vehicle itself was the world's biggest slime blower on wheels. A single unit tanker truck that can destroy anything made out of Black Slime in seconds. Even by ramming monsters with its front plow.

"Than we'll have to put our blowers into overtime." Mike says back.

"Great, just bloody great. Thus us Shandor all over again." Danny pouts.

"Who's Shandor? Is he a friend." Cynder thought the name it who or whatever it was had to mean something.

"Shandor is a ghost lord that tried to destroy the world, Twice. We met him when our world and several others were collapsing together because of his control over black slime." Leo states. Making Cynder's thought drop like a rock.

"He wasn't really a lord at most. He was a human that was obsessed with the Cult, the Supernatural. And followed closely to a god named Gozer. The original Ghostbusters from the non reality time had defeated Gozer several times and even Shandor himself. But when the Cross Worlds event happened they, along with other teams came to our world all to find out what Shandor was up to."

"What happened after that?" Spyro asked.

"Well, the 30 of us at the time along with 20 others all crossed the streams. Reversing the merging of worlds, blew up Shandor out of existence and saved the world."

"Whoa, you guys saved the world?" Sparx asked. Though he wasn't that amused by it. But the story of how they did was.

"Yep. We save New York City sometimes on a regular bases. We've saved the world maybe 3 times. But the others from the different worlds have saved the world on a timely based."

Derek lifts his bowl up for another bite. The look on everyone's faces were that of. 'What' and 'How'. Each one turned to each buster. Not knowing if Derek was right. But none of them smiled, acted out of anything. He was right.

"Well, its is getting really late. We should all turn in and get some rest." Derek gets up from his spot as the others did.

"I'll stay on watch till Leo can gets the disrupters working. Everyone else, find a comfy spot in your cars."

At that the team broke. Leo and Rachel headed back inside the trailer, but do to the mess still inside the other bunks were unusable. Once up the ramp it slowly lifts up till it sealed back up. Roger and Mike head up too to get their rest in the helicopter while Ben hopped in the back seat of Ecto 4. Both Jack and Danny got into Ecto 1 as Jack laid in the front as Danny hopped in the back. Not minding the equipment beside him.

"I don't know where you guys could stay, maybe you two could be in the trailer or something." He points to Spyro and Cynder.

"It's alright. We can stay out here and keep the fire going." Spyro says waving Derek off. Nodding at the idea Derek heads back over to the trailer. Walking up to the side he pulls open a smaller door and steps inside. Once the door closed the dragons all circled around the small fire. Throwing more wood on the fire, Spyro layed down next to the stop where Derek was.

"So… what do you think about them?" He asks the others. Terrador was by now out cold because of the slime doing its job of healing him. Volteer was eyeing every inch of the vehicles and Cyril was just zoned out.

"They are such an interesting kind." Volteer turns his attention to the purple dragon. "If what they say is true and their… equipment is then our problems could be over quicker than ever!"

Volteer's fascination for the team was growing by the minute. He was the scientific one of the Guardians after all. Cyril how ever was more like the book worm. And he still wanted to know more as well.

"I agree with Volteer. But I question parts of their story. That they 'blew up' a ghost lord from another world just doesn't sit right."

Spyro could agree with the ice Guardian on that. It took him a while to grow in power to stop Malefor. Risking his own life with Cynder and the entire planet. But the way the Ghostbusters say it, it's like it's just a normal day for them.

"Well, hopefully when we all get back to Warfang we can begin finding out the problem." Cynder says curling up next to the fire. One by one of the others did the same as they drifted off into sleep.

 _1 Hour Later…_

The night was as quiet as what one should be. The natural sound of the forest had returned to the camp's surroundings as everyone was sound asleep.

But at the now diminished fire, Cynder wasn't really sleeping. She had been awake for the past half an hour. She didn't bother doing anything but just sit the way she was.

 _*creeee…*_

Looking over in thee dark she watched as the trailer door slowly opened. Closing her eyes she waited for whom ever to go out.

The door shuts as the sound of boots on rock went by. Looking up she watches as someone climbed up the black ladder on the side of the trailer. Reaching the top they stay there for a moment before hopping over onto the truck. Sitting against the light bar and scoop.

Lifting her head up she tried looking closer to see who it was.

" _Derek?"_ She whispers. Using her own Shadow element she glides her way over the truck and rematerialize just behind him. Derek didn't seem to notice as he pulled over his goggles. Clicking on the green leds that lined the lenses. Beside him was 2 traps and a different thrower. This one was much more bulky and had what would be a 3 ring cyclotron on the side.

Reaching over Derek also pulls his main gun. Setting it across his lap. Taking one hand he flips the activator switch as the pack lite up to life. Cynder's eyes were mesmerized by the light display the pack showed with the range of color.

She knew better than to try and touch the pack, after witnessing what it can do. She just stared at the equipment. But slowly her eyes drifted to the traps beside him. Cynder wanted to ask how he did it. Use something like a little box to do whatever he did to that creature.

Oh that creature, Cynder just couldn't wrap her mind at seeing it. It was like looking into a mirror from the past but in seconds a flash of light ends it. She just wanted to reach out, grab the trap and see how it did it.

Her mind was against it but her claw wasn't. She had almost touched the handle before Derek quickly turned around. Holding the gun up to her head.

"Jesus Christ Cynder, never sneak up on a Ghostbuster like that." He pulls the thrower back as he flips the goggles off his eyes. "What are you doing anyway. It's 1:45 am and everyone's asleep."

"I was at first but sleep wasn't really on the mind." Derek chuckles at her answer.

"Been there. Do the same when working night shifts." He says sitting back against the light rack.

(The way the truck and trailer is made up is different. The back half of the trailer has the foldable helipad while the forward part has a giant roof rack. On the truck itself is just emergency light bar with a spoiler on the roof.)

For a moment the two stayed there on the roof. Looking up at the sky for moments at a time.

"So any reason why you came up here?" he asked. Cynder was slightly caught of guard.

"I was just wondering why someone would be out doing something right now."

Derek rolled his eyes at the response. It was typical for people to wonder what they did when no one was looking.

"Also…" she starts, getting his attention again. "I was wondering if you had any more if those sweet bars?" She tapes her claws together in a nervous matter.

"You mean a Snickers?" Reaching down into his left side leg pocket he fished out another candy bar. Ripping the wrapping off he hands it over to her waiting claw. She eyes the chocolate for a moment before shoving the bar in her mouth. A slight moan could be heard as she closed her eyes and chewed.

"This is just incredible. What's it made out of?" She asks finishing it off.

"Chocolate." He asks with a raised brow. Even he would of thought that they never heard of chocolate.

"Chocolate? This is chocolate? Is this what the Moles have been talking about for so long?!" She bursts out. But quickly silents herself to not wake anyone

"Uhhh... Moles?"

"Yeah. Another kind that live in this world, Why?"

"Nothing, just wondering what this world has. I mean believe me, I've seen crazy in a city of 8 million people but sometimes the universe likes to throw a curveball."

Cynder could help but agree. She had been through things that she or maybe anyone wasn't prepared for.

"So how do you bust ghosts? That monster was melted and that… thing after it was sucked into that light." She asks.

"Well ghostbusting involves a few methods of getting it done. Disintegration is one, most monsters are this because they have a more destroyable form at times. Second is replacement, send them back to the world from which they came from for good. And the other is trapping." Holding up one if the traps he carefully hands it to her.

"It's more practical because we can store them permanently in a Containment Unit. Plus they make for a good source of power. " This was a bit uneasy for Cynder now. Using ghost to power stuff didn't sit right, even just by saying it.

"What do you use them to power?"

"Well at times like now we use them to power the traps. Once captured a ghost's energy is sapped so that the trap can make sure that it can't break out but not enough to harm the ghost. The more powerful or the larger amount if ghosts means a stronger lock. We even use them to power the main Grid and the whole firehouse. Cuts back on electricity bills incrediblely but we have back up power just in case."

"What happens if there's no power?"

Derek knew the exact answer to that question. Everyone who knew the basics about Ghostbusters knew what would happen if the Containment Unit had no power.

"Boom."

"Boom?"

"BOOM!" He says louder. Startling her a little. "In a normal Containment Unit, it would unleash all captured ghosts inside out and destroy a city block. Ours is much more powerful in every way. If it was to blow up it wouldn't unleash all the ghosts, at first it would collapse in on itself, like a black hole in space, suck in everything within a 5 miles radius of it and then erupt. Causing everything to fly back out, including ghosts."

It was just his guess on the outcome, But he knew that it was close. He saw every version if the unit blowing up from the original movie to the new. Each one would be dwarfed by theirs. Egon Spangler said turning it off would be like dropping a bomb in the city. If that was the case, than they had a nuclear bomb in their basement.

"It's something I hope to God that I or anybody has to witness." his voice had lost its bright, knowledgeful tone. Cynder felt like she had just hit the one nerve that shouldn't be touched.

"But luckily, that will never happen." His mood quickly lightens up. Looking back up to the sky he inhales a deep breath.

"It's getting late. You should go rest up."

"What about you?" cynder asks. Stepping to the side of the truck.

"I'm us to this, good Night." He says.

"Night." Jumping down she heads back over to her previous spot.

Looking back up once last time she watches as he pulled the goggles back over his face and leans against the spoiler. A small grin formed on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.

 _The Next Morning…_

As the sun completely rose up past the horizon, the forest steadily woke up. In the camp Derek was the first to be up.

The remainder of the night was uneventful aside from the talk. But now he sat in Ecto-7's cab. Looking at his watch as the seconds slowly ticked to 8:00 am.

 _ ***Beep***_

Yanking down the cord that his other hand rested on. He unleashes to full force of the truck's train horn.

(Literally, it's a train horn mounted on the roof.)

The dragons all jump to their feet as they looked around, not knowing what was happening.

Meanwhile the team was slow to react to the wake up call. Inside the trailer, resting in their bunks Leo sluggishly slid out of the bed.

"Leo…" Rachel groaned from under her blanket. "Please tell me there is coffee?"

"Don't worry *yawn* that's the one thing I didn't take out." He walks out into the kitchen. Opening one of the bottom cabinets he pulls out a giant tube of coffee grain. Reaching up he pulls out 8 mugs Looking at the 8th mug he puts it back on the self as he pulled out a larger one.

In the cars everyone else was still trying to gain their bearings. Mike and Roger had no problem getting up early due to their past jobs. Jack was already out of Ecto-1 as he walked up to the Ecto-4.

"Rise and Shine people." He swings open the driver side door. Ben was leaned back in the passenger chair against the side while Danny laid across the back seat.

Jack knew from experience what to do,

"Hey Danny, I deleted your Sports Channel! " Jack quickly shuts the door ans dashes from the truck. Nothing happened but in a moment his words reached Danny's ears.

" **WHAT**!?" His eyes shoot open as he frantically tried to move. Elbowing the seat. The sudden movement jerks the seat forward. Making Ben hit his head off the window.

"Oww…" he groaned rubbing his head.

Opening the door he steps out with his brother. One by one each remember slowly walks over to the side door. Derek opens the door to be greeted with something that all the men loved.

Fresh brewed Coffee.

Each one quickly pushes each other to get inside. Sitting at the table Leo and Rachel were already drinking their cups.

"Mornin' " Leo said taking another swing. Each buster went to the counter to get their cups. Doing so the pile around the table. Derek being the head man stood across from the table. Leaning against a piece of lab equipment.

"Alright, now that we're all here and more rested. Let's get down to business." He starts.

"Problem, we're in another world dumbass." Ben said, still running his head.

"Exactly, and with that the case is what are we gonna do. This isn't New York or some parallel world. We have only what we have around us. Now given the fact that we're now literally out of food."

Everyone's eyes widened in horror. All but the three originals.

(In the first story, Derek is technically the original Protonix Ghostbuster, Leo and Rachel came along later after the secret about ghostbusting was out.)

"And that's not including our situation with vehicles, equipment and problem. We're in the middle of a vast forest with no means if contacting the others. We got… Leo how much space does we the PCU have left?"

Leo looks up from his cup, "After you and the others dumped all your traps last night, we're right now at 65% capacity. "

Now Derek's eyes widened in shock.

"I thought you were pumping that thing when I got back?" he asks. Not really knowing what Leo did.

"It was in my to do list. I first had to clear out the truck then hook it up." He answers back. Derek took a long gulp if his coffee before taking in a deep breath.

"Alright. While I don't like using our hand traps for permanent capture I guess dumping will have to be held back. Roger,"

"Yes?" he looks up to him.

"Can you find us something like a cave or somewhat. Something that seems big enough to fit even Ecto 2 inside?" Derek asks. Roger pauses for a moment to think.

"Maybe, if I can get the layout of this place right."

"Okay, alright let's pack everything up and get ready to roll." Nodding in agreement the teams gets up to do what was needed. As Derek headed for the door he was hit with a strong smell. Opening the door he found out why.

"WHAT THE…!" Derek yells out at the top of his lungs. Sitting just 7 feet away from him was the corpse of 4 dead sheep.

To add salt in the wound it was whom he saw eating bits of it over a fire. Each dragon was munching one on part of the sheep. Derek's yell was quick to reach them as the all turned to his direction.

"Morning, Derek." Volteer said before flipping another peice if meat intk his mouth. He just slightly waved at them as the others followed. Each one was shocked or had a sickening feeling.

"So, what were you all up to in there?" Spyro looks over as he lifted a stick of smoking meat up. "Wanna bite?"

"Uh, No thanks. We we're discussing on about our next move."

"Oh and what would that be. Going monster hunting? " Volteer asks in his same wonder filled tone from the day before.

"No, we're getting out of this forest and look for a cave or something to set up a temporary base of operations." At that everyone broke off to their vehicles.

"Then why not come back with us to Warfang?" Cynder proposed. Making everyone stop.

"You want us to come back with you?" Rachel asked.

The thought of exploring the new world was something everyone could agree on. But the reality of what would happen if they just drove in was weighing heavily.

"Well of course. You guy all need a place to stay. And the temple in Warfang has plenty of room." Spyro adds in. He could tell that the answer was on Derek's shoulders.

"I agree with them." Leo said stepping out with Rachel. "It would give us more protection than a cave would. Plus we would have more available resources and a reasonable place to work.

Thinking it over for a good minute Derek ran the idea through his head. Smiling he walks over to Ecto-X1, Powering up the engine.

"Alright, we'll come along. Let's move out!"

Quickly everyone hopes into the their respective vehicles. Roger was far ahead at getting Ecto-2 airborne as Leo and Mike hoped in the truck. Rachel jumped into Ecto-1 with Jack while the brothers stayed in Ecto-4.

"Now it's your turn to try and keep up." Cynder joked as she took off. One by one the dragons flew into the air. Taking the same path as the last night the Ghostbusters follow close behind. Wondering what lies ahead if them.

* * *

Some more back story. This was also meant to build up on the idea that the same black slime from the video game is in our world and the Protonix Ghostbusters are at 'war' with it.

This also references heavily on a past story that follows this one. Because I decided to write this story first other than the first 3 was for unknown reasons. For those who want to think about them here's what the past stories would be titled:

The Protonix Ghostbusters

Broken Reality

Shadow's of the Past

Ghost Lord

Infestation

Next chapter will slow things down even more as the team's sets out across Avalar. Other characters will be added through the story and possible OCs along the way.

" _Ghostbustin' never prepared me for this."._ -Derek Stewart


	5. The Welcoming

Chapter 5: The Welcoming

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

After the team set off to what the dragons called 'Warfang', everyone was steadily driving down the path Ecto-4MC cleared.

They were still capable of keeping up with the dragons as well as Roger. Despite the latch of forward thrust the chopper had he still managed to keep it close enough.

Derek was directly behind Ecto-4, watching Danny standing on the back with the Meson Cannon as it fired non stop. It brought a tiny smile to him. Seeing his team mates enjoy themselves even in crazy times.

"What do you got up there, Roger?" He asks to his shoulder radio. Up in the chopper Roger was already searching ahead.

"I got slight visual of something large up ahead. Could be the city the dragons said." He wasn't wrong. He had a much more clear view of the towering buildings. It wasn't New York standards but it was amazing when zoomed in.

Back on the ground Derek sighed at the news. "Copy that."

In Ecto 1 Jack and Rachel were spending their time with small talk.

"So, how was it?" Jack asked her. Rachel looked over at him with a frustrated look before sighing. Looking back out the window.

"For the last time it wasn't a date. We got a call that we both went out to, got stuck in a portal and spawned back in the closet. Nothing else."

"Sure… and you two had to go to the Braxton Hotel for a week for investigating." He smirks at the memory.

Rachel was between the point of knocking anyone out that mentioned anything or just getting pay back in a devilish way. The latter to her seemed more promising but the other was more quick and satisfying.

Looking back forward she stared at Derek. Looking over the pack, bike and his head. To her it was nice to see a different side of him instead if the Ghostbuster he tends to be. She let out a smile of her own as she closed her eyes for a nap. At the back of the convoy Leo and Mike were the more silent type. Mike was tinkering we his Shock Gun,

(The Shock Gun is a separate weapon with the Shock Blast mode. It looks like the fan made Proton Rifle but the cyclotron is replaced with the Dark Matter generator from the Wii video game.)

Leo on the other hand was listing to Magic from the movie soundtrack.

"Leo," Mike asks. Pointing the gun out the window. "Is the transfuser suppose to be at 7 or 23 Gpbs?"

"Anything under 12 if you want it more focused. Anything higher is more widespread." He answers, turning the music up louder as it reached his favorite part.

Before the sound could end his Pke began rapidly buzzing. His meter compared to the others was literally a mobile radar unit. Capable of picking up a signal from miles away. He quickly turns down the music and sticks the meter out his window. Both antennas were flashing rapidly as the screen changed into its radar display. Leo's eyes widened at the readings. Pulling it back inside he places it on the dash board. Mike looked over at him, knowing things were about to get crazy.

"Ghosts?" He asks but Leo shakes his head. "Monsters?" This time with a nod. Mike flips the power switch of his rifle as Leo radioed out to the team.

Switching back to Derek he was at the point of stopping and hopping in one of the cars. But the idea was cut,

" _Guys, I'm picking up 5 Pke signatures head of us."_ Leo warned into his walkie talkie.

"I got them too." Derek looks at the the bike's display screen. It showed a radar type map that had 5 red targets.

"Think their heading where we are?"

" _Most likely. We need to stop them, fast."_

"Ben do you copy? Put your foot on the gas and step on it. We got monsters coming in fast."

" _On it!"_ Ecto-4 quickly picks up speed as now it was instead ramming its path.

(There's three vehicles with plows, Ecto 4, 6 and 7. Both 6 and 7 are for more practical clearing while Ecto 4 as something like snow plow.)

Derek guns the throttle as the bike raced forward, followed by the others as they each activated their sirens and lights.

Meanwhile in the air the dragons breathed their first sigh of relief at coming back.

"Finally, I can get some rest." Sparx stated as he lounges on one of Spyro's horns.

"You sleep most if the time anyway, Sparx." His dragon brother said. Just ahead if then the Guardians were talking amongst themselves. Planning their next move.

"Even though they have a means of flight, we can rely on them as some sort of private guard." Cyril stated about Terrador's idea.

"They have the capability of handling the task at hand. Even their Leader has shown us that. I wouldn't mind sending him alone with Spyro and Cynder."

"But you completely forgot, Terrador." Volteer adds in, " They're a team. And each team has a part that aids the other to accomplish something."

"Exactly, and they do not know our world at all. They are somewhere that we all must help them with. And in return they help us. Just like what happened to you." Cyril points to the healed scar under Terrador's wing. Overnight the slime had completely removed the infection and already began healing over. Terrador couldn't argue with it. He felt more alive and at times joyful.

"Once we get back to the temple than we can discuss any further matter." He says back. As they agreed they are quickly to hear a distinctive whining again. Looking down they saw the team had picked up speed and was already ahead of them.

"What's got them in a rush?" Spyro looks over to Cynder. Before she could answer they were cut off as Ecto-2 soars by them. The downdraft making them a bit unbalanced as it went past the guardians.

"Something isn't right. Come on!" She yells as she races to catch up with the Ghostbusters. Spyro quickly zips up the the guardians.

"Head back to the city, we'll meet you there." He says before flying after Cynder.

Spyro was flying as fast as his wings would let him. Even for his strength he had a hard time catching up with the chopper.

"Cynder, wait!" He shouted as she came into view. She quickly bolts down to the ground as he did the same. Flying just above the trees they watched as flashes of light emitted from the forest.

"Cynder- WOAH!" He yells as a Boson Dart flew past him. Looking down he could barely see the team as flashes of yellow, blue and red lite up.

Following their path he saw that within yards they would break out the forest into the large fields that surrounded the city. He quickly flies ahead to watch as a Screecher was the first to break the trees. Followed by Derek who was firing a particle stream from his bike.

The Screecher howled in pain as it flew across the field. Derek was hot on its heels as he trailed closely behind. Seconds later a second Screecher came barrelling out, it was struggling to get off the ground but was quickly beaten by a constant fire from the Meson Cannon.

The truck was followed by Ecto 1 and 7 as they too chased it. The truck pulled ahead of the cadillac as it stop in a open spot. Ecto-1 just zipped by as a proton stream shot from the side.

"Come on Jack!" Rachel yelled as she tried to hold on the door. Aiming at the second Screecher. Jack was struggling to keep the car in line of shot.

Meanwhile, Derek was almost done with the first. The beam soon wrapped around the creature as he slammed on the breaks. The bike skids across the ground as the two rear claws quickly smash to the ground. Stopping it entirely.

Pulling his thrower he wrangles the Screecher as Ecto-2 flew above him. Another stream dropped from the bottom as it too added in the cage.

"LEO!" Derek shouts into the radio.

Over at semi Leo was already strapping on his pack. Mike had already jumped out as he went to help.

" _Get the Super Slammers Ready!"_ His radio blared. Jumping back in the truck he flips two red switches on the dash.

On the roof of the trailer two large barrel like object zoomed to life. Both letting out two large beacons of light.

"Armed and ready." Leo recalls back.

Derek was already making his way back over to the truck with the Screecher in tow. It tries dashing to the right but Derek counters it by slamming it the other way into the ground.

Back over with the others Rachel had managed to wrangle around the head of the second monster. Jack and Ben both hopped from their cars to her side as they all slammed the creature.

" _Rachel, start working it back!"_ Derek said from her radio.

"On it Derek!"

She began walking back to the trailer as the others each held on. The Screecher roars out another yell as it jerks its head back. Letting out a blob of slime that went racing at her.

Her eyes widened at the incoming blob as she let her beam go. Holding her gun up as a way to try and block it. But instead of getting covered in goo she feels a powerful gust of wind hit her. It's so strong that the blob is sent flying to her right. Looking up she could she Cynder slowly fly down to her.

"Need some help?" she asks Rachel. Nodding as she vented her pack before firing again. As she got another capture stream on the Screecher Cynder took to the air again. Breathing out a dark green mist that spread across the creature. The moment it came into contact with the slime that covers it the monster howled in clear agony.

Back with Derek he and the others were busy dealing with their Screecher who had more fight in it.

"Hold it still!" Derek shouted as they struggled to hold it. He was trying to switch modes into the Electron Beam but couldn't risk losing his grip on the monster.

It was freaking out past belief as it tried ripping out the cage. Derek himself couldn't believe how much fight it had. Last night he was able to capture one with ease but with the help of Cross Modding.

Yanking down his thrower he smashes it back to the ground. Dazzing it as it quickly began fighting again. They were close enough to the truck to where one good slam could send it into the trap but it was fighting the opposite way.

Careful to avoid the beams the purple dragon lands behind Derek as he watched them. Concentrating he builds up a large blast of lightning. Moving like he was to yell he unleashed his own power.

But instead of hitting the Screecher, Derek moved to the side, into its path. Taking a direct hit on Derek's Proton Pack. The cyclotron instantly springs open as all 8 core rods eject. The cycling red is instantly replaced by a electric blue as it whines louder from the power build up.

"What the- HOLY!" Derek couldn't finish his sentence before the new power surges through his thrower. The force rockets out of the barrel as the particle stream tripled in size, shifting into what could look like a bolt of lightning. Derek looked back once to see Spyro letting out his power. Nodding as a thanks he looks back up to the creature. Shifting his index finger under the handle he hits the secondary fire.

 _ **CH-OOOOOOOOO MMMMMMMM**_

A giant Boson Dart erupts from his gun. Not wasting a moment it slams into the monster. The force and power surges through it as it goes limp. Seeing it weakened Spyro lets his power gi as Derek's pack went back into its normal mode.

By now Rachel and the others had managed to bring their Screecher over to them. Roger for the time had landed Ecto 2 in the grass as he jumped from the cockpit. Already he pulls his thrower to wrangle the first one.

Cynder had retreated to Spyro's side as they watched the team bring the Screechers closer to the super traps. Cynder's eyes were focused on said traps as she waited to see what happens.

"This is even cooler than last night!" Sparx yelled from behind his brother's horn.

Both groups were now practically in line as them slammed both monsters to the ground. Lifting them high up the team positions them directly above the Super Slammers.

"NOW!" Derek yells out. Everyone slams their throwers back down as both Screechers are sent flying into the beams. The top of the traps spiral open as both are drawn inside.

A flash of light emits from the traps as the doors close. Letting out a plum of smoke as two red lights flashed. Making the beams return. On cue everyone's packs let out their own plums of stream as they vented out the cores. They each stood their in place as they looked at each other.

"He-he… he-he" Danny starts laughing.

"Ha-ha…" Derek does as well until everyone busted out.

"2 in the box!" Roger shouted. Raising his gun up to the traps.

"Ready to go!" Ben continues.

"We be fast," Derek asks. "And THEY BE SLOW!" They all chant. Clanking their throwers together.

As they celebrated their small victory the two dragons were both impressed at the show.

"Damn." Cynder said without even thinking. Spyro couldn't help but agree with her. He thought last night was hellish but what he just witnessed made it nothing.

"I know. And I got a feeling we'll be seeing that a lot more." He gets up from his spot as he and Cynder bead over to the group.

Derek was the first to notice as he walked up to Spyro. "How did you know lightning can turbo charge my Protonix Pack?"

(There's two different types of packs in this. A Proton Pack has more recognizable traits to the franchise packs. Like the cartoons and video games. A Protonix Pack is the combination of different generations of packs that rely on different mechanics and can do things like Cross Modding. Hence the name, Protonix Ghostbusters.)

"I uh… didn't really."

"While your thought on the choice was a good one." Leo steps in. "Our packs," he points to himself, Rachel and Derek. "Have energy dampeners that can absorb power to use. But everyone else's are more traditional and if charged with the same power you gave Derek, you could easily overload the cores to where it melts down and explode. "

Spyro was a little taken aback at Leo's explanation. Looking back at Cynder she just simply shrugged.

"Okay that's bad, alright important safety tip, thanks Leo." He says as he got the message.

"Uh… guys." Cynder says pointing a claw behind them. Turning around the tale aim at whatever was there. But to their surprise it wasn't a ghost or monster. But a army, a small army

Legions of dragons and moles stood on either side of the 3 Guardians as they looked down at the team. Taking s defensive stance the get closer to each other with their guns up. Not knowing what was to happen next. Not knowing either the two dragons behind them dash around in front of the ghostbusters. Waiting for the three to answer.

"What did you just do?" Volteer asked in disbelief.

"Uh… we busted those things. What else would we do?" Danny said back to them.

"How, lightning can't do anything like that." A Mole said walking past the Guardians. The Ghostbusters were a little surprised at the sight. The mole only really went just up to their knees and had what would look like a lab coat with a pair of poorly made glasses.

"Because it's not lightning. It's Ghostbusting." Roger said.

"But where are the others creatures. We had reports of 5 in the area and you eight just dealt with two." The mole points to the traps.

"The other 3? You mean the Black Slime Monsters we ran over in the woods?" Ben says as he fist bumped his brother.

"Wait, you mean you killed them already?! But how?!" He yelled.

"They saved us and the Guardians from a large one last night. And that was only by one of them." Spyro briefly looks over to Derek. Several dragons talked among themselves as the Guardians each stepped forward. Walking up to where they were now side by side with the mole.

"And at that we do thank you. Now if you would follow-"

"INCOMING!" Mike yelled, cutting Terrador short. The team quickly spun around to see what it was. A large boulder was flying in the air, falling down towards them. They quickly fire bosons to destroy the massive projectile. Sending bits of steaming rock everywhere. Looking at the forest they could see the tops of trees falling. They all aim down as the tree line burst in front of them, showing another monster.

"I thought you said you dealt with them!?" The mole yelled as he ran back. They knew they did. But this monster was much different. Itwas much more shorter and fatter than the slime monsters. It's body was practically made up of stone, wood and other materials from the forest. Compared to the slime monsters this one was doubled the size.

"Um Leo, this is something new for us isn't it?" Derek said as the team took aim. He quickly fires his proton gun at the monster as the others joined in. Howling in the sign that they got its utmost attention.

"Evasive Maneuvers!" He yells.

Not knowing what to do the small army quickly gets into the air or steps back several yards. Spyro and Cynder stayed where they were as they watched the team unleash all 8 particle streams. The guardians remained stationary. Watching them deal with the new creature.

The monster was still slowly walking towards Derek as he began backpedaling, Firing two more bosons at its head. It reels back by the blast as the others switch up modes. Danny and Ben were firing away on the Meson Colliders with Roger on it with a Stassis Stream.

Leo and Rachel both pounded it with Bosons as Mike tried firing Slime Mines at it. But it remained focused on Derek as it soon began picking up speed. Derek quickly put more paste in his steps as he too was almost running backwards.

"Come on you overgrown piece of-" He stops mid sentence. His proton stream is quickly cut off as the sound of his pack venting fills his ears.

"-Shit." He mutters as the monster reared back. Smashing its fists just in front of him. The force sends jags of rock from the ground as Derek is sent flying into the air.

He falls to the ground just a few yards back in a cloud of dirt. A red light flashes from his pack as a plume of steam came out the sides. His motionless body didn't move as the monster turned around. Looking at Leo as it made its way over.

The dragons quickly ran to his side, "Derek, are you alright?!" Spyro yelled, shaking his body. Looking down he could see a thin bubble cover Derek's body. The green bars on the side of the pack were completely black.

Rachel, being the closest to him, made her way over to him. Letting out a Boson Dart as her pack began beeping, venting the overheated cores. Taking her chance she rushes over to him. Pushing Spyro aside Rachel hits a red release button behind the neck foam. The Bubble quickly expands as the warning light and steam both stopped. Derek's eyes shot open as he jumped to his feet, acting like nothing happened.

"Thanks." He said as he picked up his thrower. "This thing has a one hit kill. Keeping our distance is gonna be a little tricky."

And he was right. Both of them watched as Leo dashed to the right. Missing the impact. But the monster quickly turn as it swung its right arm. Spending Danny and Jack into the air just like Derek. Ben quickly let out his gun till his pack soon vented. Taking the chance he runs over to help his brother and friend. Flipping his goggles up Derek tries to take a solid scan.

'Class 4 Static Animator Elemental.

(Uses things like Earth, fire and etc.)

Melee attacks at point blank range. Can use any rock type to its advantage. Center of focus: Black Stone Heart.

Weakness: Boson Dart, Shock Blast, Proton Stream.'

"Everyone on full capture stream! Tear it apart!" Derek yells as he lets the goggles fall back around his neck. Him and Rachel instantly fire as the others joined in. Jack was the first to get a capture stream around the monster's left shoulder. Yanking as hard as he could he rips a large chunk of stone out.

The monster turns back to him as it roars out again. But before it could try to charge both Mike and Danny get ahold of its legs. Both pulling it down as more shattered off. Ben takes a chance as he runs up to it. Switching to Shock Blast as he finishes off its arm that Jack damaged.

Derek fires fully a charged boson at its head as Rachel wrangled it back. Ripping half its skull off. Showing a small portion of the stone. Derek rips away another chunk as the glow of black and purple came into view.

"It's clear!" Derek quickly switches in wrangler as the stream could around the black stone. He tries to slam it out but is stopped when it places it right arm over its busted chest. Roger and Mike both take hold of its arm as they pry it away. It tries to stand but is smacked down by the brothers. Leo holds its head back as the Jack held its torso.

Yanking back as hard as they could they both rip the stone out of the monster's chest. It's body twists as the rock and plants that held it together fell apart before slightly bursting.

Taking a moment to vent they wait for the all clear. Careful at approaching it everyone kept their throwers live as Leo pulled out his Pke.

"Well, that was harder than it should've been." Derek thought out loud.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Leo said waving his meter over the remains. As everyone gathered around the rock pile the dragons soon came back to the sight. The guardians were the first to step ahead and examine the rock.

"What was that? I've never seen a golem like that before." Terrador had seen rock golems before. But this one beat the hell out of him.

"It's a Class 4 Static Animator. Earth Monster." Leo said as he hooked his meter. "They use objects in their environments around them to manifest more direct strength and rage. Can be dealt easy when you know it's weak spot."

"I never saw one like that before. And the guys showed us literally Everything about their ghost records." Leo agreed with Derek. Even though it was a different world most entities were basic or oversized monsters that they've fought before.

"It's like a Elemental." Spyro looked at the black stone the team ripped out. The rock was much more reflective, like a crystal. It had a more purplish tint with a pure black core.

Leo walked over to the dragon's side as he scanned it over.

"Strong energy flux but fading. I'll take this back to the trailer to examine it later." He hooks his meter as he goes to pick up the rock. Spyro was about to stop him but seeing him pick it up without a problem got to him first. As Leo headed to the trailer the others regrouped with the dragons.

"Well, now that we're done here. Mind showing us this city you mentioned? "

Derek brought out the remote again as his bike raced up to his side. Hoping on he looks back to the dragons and waited for a response.

"I uh, suppose so. Just follow us and stay close." Cyril spun around as the army did so.

Everyone walks back to their vehicles as Rachel hops on with Derek. He looks back as everyone drove up.

"Roger!" He yells out as the pilot was about to get in the chopper.

"Yes?"

"Might wanna get Ecto-2 on the truck. Don't wanna risk getting shot out of the sky by something." Derek said pointing at the helicopter with finger gun.

Roger jumps into the chopper as he flies it up to the trailer. Carefull to get it perfectly aligned he drops it down. Latching the chopper down everyone waited for the go ahead. The dragons nod as they turn back to the city. Walking in formation with the team in the middle of the army.

They covered the distance fairly well save for the team getting impatient do to moving slowly. The city itself became more and more clear as the detail of buildings and even the sounds of people came from the other side of a wall.

The wall stood easily 60 feet high with various holes place across the top edge. A single gate stood in the wall with two dragons planted on each side.

Coming up to the door the yellow dragon had taken notice to the group of white vehicles.

"HALT!" A yellow dragon stepped in front of the group. Stopping Derek and the others as the Guardians walked up beside him.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry sir! Are these…" he stops as he looks over the 'busters and vehicles. "People with you?"

"Yes, all of them." Terrador looks back at them for a moment. The dragon nods in agreement as the two guards swing the gate open.

The group slowly passes through as they are greeted with a sight that is too familiar. A packed, bustling street with stores at the sides with dragons, moles and other beings running around.

Most had stopped when they saw the guardians and Spyro walk by. They would try to greet them but would stop at the sight of the Ghostbusters' vehicles. Ecto-7 and 2 got many shocked faces as the semi/helicopter just kept on driving by. It's shadow casting over half the street.

"Definitely not like New York." Rachel said over Derek's shoulder. He couldn't agree more. The city itself reminded him of a gigantic fortress that turned into the city around them.

The further they drove the more and more pedestrians started following them. Most of the dragons and moles that they came in with had all but broken off and left. Leaving the them, guardians and the legendaries.

Despite the tight streets they soon made their way to the heart of the city. The Temple to them looked like something a god would live in. A second gate opened as the group entered a large court yard. Other dragons were walking around the main fountain as they watch the fleet circle around. Some dashing away as others looked closer.

Derek pulled the bike up to just before the steps as each vehicle stopped. The others were surprised by the scenery around they. Gathering together in their full equipment the team watch as the 5 ascended the stairs that lead to the main door.

"This place would put the Vatican to shame." Mike thought out loud as they climbed the flight of stairs. Earning a few chuckles from the others.

"Talk about living in paradise…" Derek muttered as they approached the doors.

Two moles push open large doors as the guardians walked in. Spyro waits for a moment as he followed behind. Looking at each other for a moment the group makes their way inside. The sheer size of the hall was incredible in of itself.

"Welcome to the Warfang Temple. Home of some of the most specialize dragons in the world." Cyril exclaimed as they continued on.

The Ghostbusters were a bit impressed by the style of the place. Though overall, they weren't all too shocked or like 'Wow look at that!'.

"Is it me." Rachel asks. "Or does it feel like we're the Public Library again?" She looks over to Derek who just shrugged his shoulders.

"In here, we along with several others teach and train dragons how to control their magic. How to defend themselves and much more." Cyril says as they entered a much larger room. It was much more darker but still had enough light.

Standing in the dead center was a giant dragon statue. It showed heavy weathering and missing pieces as it looked like it could fall at any moment.

"Who's that?" Jack asked. Walking closer.

Cyril answered, "Hmmm… We truthfully do not know. Ignitus was the one who kept track of these types of things in history."

"Ignitus..?" Derek thought for a moment. He felt like he knew the name but not the face. "So what do you teach here in general? " he asked.

"We teach the four elements that make up the magic in the world. Lighting, Ice, Earth and Fire." Volteer proudly says.

It wasn't rocket science to know which dragon went with what element. Even due to the fact that all 5 dragons standing before them were scanned and recorded in the equipment.

"And was it that Ignitus was the fire elemental? " Leo asked. Each dragon was a little surprised by his remark.

"Ye- Yes. How did you-" "Ignitus has the base word Ignite which involves that of fire." Leo made it clear enough for Spyro to slowly close his mouth.

"We've dealt with guardians of paranormal aspects before. Knowing things like this is kids play."

"What have you encountered before?" Cynder asked. "We saw Derek single handedly kill a monster and capture several dozens of Apes. You all facing two more with a rock monster, what else is there… "

"Well lets see shall we." Derek pulled out his meter as he switch to Hub mode. "There's ghosts, demons, witches, vampires, cross dimensional portals, primal gods, demigods, slime, possession, zombies both bio and spiritual, monsters, giant bugs, node guardians to different worlds, phantasms, things that don't fall into any category and about 400 other things so far. That rock monster, Apes and Screechers all fall into some of those categorys." Putting down the meter he couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the stricken faces he was getting.

"Sir." A mole said out loud, getting Terrador's attention. "The food is ready." Turning around he heads back down the hall. The team's eyes lite up as the dragons started following down the hall.

"I do hope you don't mind. We figure that you all could use something to eat."

"I Agree!" Sparx shouted from nowhere, flying past them.

 _Dining Hall._

When the team heard the meaning of food, it didn't take them a second to run up to Terrador to catch up. Arriving in a different wing of the temple the 'busters could already smell the food.

When the doors swung open they were greeted by bright red and white hall that stretched on. Banners of different types hang from the walls with a symbol. A rock, bolt of lightning, waves that could be either water or wind, a snowflake, torch and others.

But what stopped them dead in their tracks was what was in front of them. A table, nearly 70 feet long was half filled with food. Stacks of meat, fruit and other foods that was scattered all over the place.

"Oh…" Jack started.

"My…" Roger added.

"God." Danny finished. Derek made a small and quiet prayer at the sight as they walked over to the table. The Guardians headed overed to the far end with Terrador at the head, Cyril on the right, Volteer, Cynder and Spyro on the left.

The team was a little confused when they saw that the seats were actually giant cushions.

"Oh, One moment." Cyril said noticing the problem. Tapping his tail against the ground the doors burst open behind the team. They quickly turn around to see eight miles walk holding chairs above their heads.

One by one they move the pillows away and placed the seats. They were about to take their seats until a force stopped them. Danny, Ben, Leo and Roger were flown over the right side as their packs stripped off. Placed on the back of their chairs as they are seated. The same happened to the others as Derek, Rachel, Jack and Roger came up on the left.

"What the hell just happened." Derek looked over to Cyril who had a smirk on his face. But before he could answer Spyro, seated directly beside Derek, got it.

"Magic." He said bluntly. Derek made a 'oh' with his mouth as he looked over the food. Some were recognizable while others seemed alien to them.

"Is something wrong, Derek?" Terrador asked the ghostbuster.

"Well, I just don't know if we're able to eat this stuff." He says as he looked at the others. Their faces all agreed save for Leo who brought out a small magnifying glass, holding up a fruit. Jack had his meter out scanning the food over while Danny and Ben had their hands reached over the table.

"I got nothing." He said putting the meter down. Leo nodded in agreement. Looking at a bowl in front of him, Derek reaches out to grab what looked like a peach and a pineapple merged together. Looking back at everyone as their eyes widened.

Taking a bite of the fruit the others watch as he chewed. Rachel was ready to spring into action if things went south. But to her relief they didn't. Derek's eyes had widened in shock as he devoured the rest of the fruit.

"Well?" Danny asked. Hovering a fork over a plate of cooked meat. Derek turned to his team with a grin, and nodded. Everyone instantly dives in as they start filling their plates. Horking down the food like was going to disappear. The dragons were shocked at the manner they were in. Spyro was dumbfounded as Cynder looked with a 'What the hell?' Look.

Derek turned over to them, seeing their faces he swallowed the drink he was holding. "Pardon our behavior. Back home we would go through crates of food because of the high intake we need cause of how much we burn off during jobs."

"Can you explain how you…. ghostbust?" Cynder asked in a curious but blank way.

"Well it's fairly simple. When someone calls in and tells about their situation. We head to the location and do our thing." Derek takes another long drink.

"No, I mean how do you get ghosts?" She asks again.

"It depends on the type of situation it is." Leo adds in. "If its a capture able or destroyable ghost or monster. How strong it is, how many are there, is there a reason why? But in the most case it's just weakening them enough so that their easier to deal with. Our packs are built just for that. Each mode for different situations."

"Like spiders…" Sparx shivered at just the thought.

This made Cynder smirk as she thought of a dasterly idea. As Sparx ate a Shadow began crawling the wall behind him as it changed its shape.

"Sparx." Cynder tried holding a giggle. Sparx looked at her for a moment before she nodded her head. Sparx slowly turned around as the shadow launch forward.

"AHHHHH!-" He fainted on the spot, landing on the table. She let out a giggle as Spyro turned to her.

"Really?" He asked as she put on a innocent face. They continued eating as the team talked about their business.

The dragons were just fascinated by the different entities the team went against on a daily basis. Saving New York as they were it's guards. During the chat Derek looked down at his watch to see the time was close to 9:00.

"Well," Derek says standing from his seat. "It was very nice of you all to do this for us. But we need to get rest up some and get set up." Taking his proton pack off the chair the others follow suit.

"Certainly. We can shall send word to set up rooms for you all" Volteer says standing from his own seat.

"We can stay in our vehicles again. No worry." Derek said.

"Nonsense. Let's us." Terrador heads to the main door. The group files out as he turns back to the 'busters.

"If your gonna break us up, put us in sets, and put Leo by himself." Derek said as they turned down another hallway.

"May I ask why?" Volteer asked.

"Because one way or another he's gonna set up something he has in his pockets that by morning would end up blowing up twice."

"It was that one time Derek…" the scientist groaned. He knew what was coming.

"One time?!" Danny shouted. " You flooded a WHOLE hotel floor when you were tinkering with the slime blower. And another time in Dallas you were in Ecto-3 when all a sudden smoke just blows out the windows. And another-"

"Okay Danny that's enough." Derek looked over at him. He was about to respond but just shut his mouth.

Walking out the room the team slips up with each dragon. Spyro decides on taking Derek and Rachel, Cynder with Roger, Mike and Jack. Terrador with the brothers and both Volteer and Cyril with Leo.

 _Sometime later._

As the trio walked down the hall, Spyro was edging on asking many things. But held against some.

"So… how did you two meet?" He instantly slapped his claws over his mouth.

"Well, we knew each other back in middle school but in highschool is when we got to know each other more. Our moms were friends so we were introduced earlier." Rachel explained.

"And 3 months into highschool when I started secretly ghostbusting with Leo she caught on fast and well…" Derek said on the way that the dragon would know. Spyro could easily guess the rest but was still ify on the others. Coming up to a large set of double doors they stop just to the side.

"Well, this is your room." He says pushing the double doors open.

"Damn." The said together. "This room would put Donald Trump to tears." The room was massive compared to what they thought. A large mass of cushions sat at the far back wall with a balcony door just a few feet away. The only others this there was a large desk, a mirror and two dressers.

"I hope this is so able. We don't have anything smaller than a closest." Spyro said to them.

"No, it's fine. Thank you." Derek says heading to one of the dressers. As Spyro closed the door and left the two looked at each other before they both looked around.

"Well, it is getting late. And after working for past 3 weeks I could use some sleep."

Derek heads over to the only desk as he starts stripping off his gear. Rachel walks over to him, stopping as she turned around.

"I still can't think what's happening." She says as she unbuckles her pack.

"And what would that be?" Derek asks as she slid from the pack. Placing it down against the desk. Undoing his he slides his pack off and next to hers.

Rachel pulls off her boots as she takes off her belt and pads.

"The fact we're in a world that has no idea what we can do. I mean, did you see what others looked at us like?"

"Yeah," he said, "They think the circus is in town now." He says placing the traps on the ground. Looking back he tosses his meter over to the cushions. Rachel walks over to the balcony as she pushes the large glass doors open.

"You know. This place isn't that bad. We never got this kind of view in Manhattan." she said as leaned against the door.

"Yeah, and when ever we did there would be another building in the way." Derek chuckles as he unzipped his top half of his suit. Everyone wore a set of under clothes just incase their suits were unusable. And overheating wasn't a problem because of a cool layer inside.

Pulling his arms free he ties the sleeves around his waist. Throwing his pads and gloves over to the pile of equipment. Walking over he stands at the base of the pillow bed before leaping up. Land face first into the cushions. Spinning around he sits himself in a comfortable spot with his arms behind his head.

"Damn… Jesus could sleep in this and he wouldn't rise for a long time." Closing his eyes he could feel his body start relaxing. But then another feeling came. This time on top of him.

Opening his eyes he looked down to see a pair of green-brown eyes staring back at him.

"Comfy?" He asked, pulling on arm around her.

"Very…" Rachel tilts her head to the side as she closes her eyes. Derek just looked on for a moment till he reached down to the top of her head. Leaving a small kiss as he laid back.

But something stopped him. He felt like he was being watched by something. Glancing over at the Pke meter it remained dead silent. Shrugging at the idea that it's just him he closes his eyes and lets sleep take over.

But little did he know that in a darker part if the room a shadow blended with the wall. Snaking its way across the floor it stops in front of the packs. Crawling its way over to one if Derek's traps before flying out the bottom of the door.

 _Sometime Later… 2:46 AM._

 _ ***CH-ooooooooommmmmmm***_

A giant flash of light lite up one of the large windows that covered the temple.

The blast shook the entire building causing some to jolt awake. In Derek's room he just smirked in his sleep.

"That's one…" Rachel moaned at she shifted her position.

* * *

And there's one. A GB relationship that has been technically happening over span 10 years. So, DerekXRachel, big whoop. It would of been seen since story 1.

Another aspect this uses is Reviving. Like in the game the user can take several hits before falling. This is because the Proton Pack generates a shield around the user to take on the incoming damage.

For Protonix the system is the same, But with differences. One is that only someone wearing a pack can revive someone down. This is because their shield can feed into the fallen user's and Reviving is just like venting. Recharging the shield instantly.

Another is that one can still move even when their down. This because when the pack vents the cores it dumps air out that helps make the pack lighter and slows down the user. While they could either stay down or even try to fight without the shield, mobility would be restricted as the pack would remain in its default setting, Proton Stream.

Now that the city as seen what the busters can do, can either side trust each other to solve their why did a shadow seem interested in a Ghost Trap?

" _Because one way or another he's gonna set up something he has in his pockets that by morning would end up blowing up twice." ~Leo's unlucky days._


	6. Just a Normal Day

Chapter 6: Just a Normal Day

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _Morning_

* **Intense/Explosive jolt***

"...thats Two." Derek groaned as he tossed a few pillows over him off. Adjusting his eyes to the bright light that filled the room. Leaning up he rubs his aching eyes as Rachel twisted around.

"What time is it?" She asked. He looks to his watch, "8:05", her head fell back into the pillow as Derek slithered out of the mess. Walking up to the only mirror in the room he looked both drained and refreshed. Turning to the right and left he could even see the start of a 5 o'clock shadow.

' _Gonna need a shave soon.'_ He thought. Heading back over he checked the equipment that laid over the ground.

"You know. Maybe we should look into using Compact Packs." Rachel suggested from behind.

"And take away it's only form to the franchise!?" He said in a horrified/sarcastic voice. "Na. Thor stays as it is."

Gathering his belt he clips it over his tied suit. Not bothering putting the upper half back on. Tossing on the protonix pack he locks the traps back on their clips. Rachel was beside him doing the same again as she slipped on her pack and belt. Once both were now set they stood in front of the door.

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Derek pulls the large handle back. Swinging the door open as the two walked out. Pecking out they noticed the halls themselves were more or less quiet than what they expected. Only seeing a few moles or timely dragon.

Each time they saw one it would stop for a moment to give one of two looks. The most was 'who and what are you?' And the other of 'your not welcomed here'. It really didn't effect them much. The team had gotten use to being the elephant in the room whenever they would attend something. But here it was a call for attention. While the dragons did possess powers that could scale up compared to mega busts like Locar.

While the only thing they saw close to their power was when Spyro lite the camp fire two days ago, the Pke never lies. If it read they as Class 13s then the team had to stay on their toes. Making their way out Derek and Rachel managed to navigate the maze of halls as they approached the main doors. Stepping outside the warm air greeted them with a cool , refreshing breeze.

"Never really could get this kind of feeling back home." Rachel leaned against his arm. Resting her head just above his strap.

"Yeah, no pollution." Roger said walking by. Derek rolled his eyes as they both followed the others to Ecto-7. The main door was down as the 'busters each held their normal cup of Joe.

"Mornin' " he said as Mike just waved them off. Taking a long swing with his cup. Inside the truck Jack was already making 4 more cups.

"Sleep well?" He asked as he handed Rachel a mug.

"Like the dead." She took a sip and walked over to the table. Leo was already there with a ice pack on his head.

"I need to stop messing with the trap's power core sinkers…" he groaned. "First time was a wire and the second time… I have no idea... "

"Spontaneous combustion?" Derek joked. Leo looked over to him with a hard glare as Derek just stood there with a smirk.

"While adapting our equipment for this world, we still don't have any real focus point. No real trace of some activity. Just a few random Ghosts and Monsters."

"It's like Infestation all over again." Jake squeezed by Derek and sat beside Leo.

The four shivered at the mention of the time. For 4 months prior to the time after discovering the Black Slime lake activity spiked incredibly across the region. It was the first time the team had to bring in other teams to help them with the explosive workload.

"If it is that kind of situation," Leo struggled to think. "And with this level of… magic to strengthen it."

"It could become something like Armageddon." Derek finished the thought.

 _Earlier…_

 _*_ **Intense/Explosive Jolt***

"What the hell was that!?" Spyro jumped from his bed. Landing at the foot if be was ready for a attack. But instead got a face full of pillow. Courtesy of Cynder from her own bed acrkss from his.

"I told you to stop doing that." Cynder said walking by the purple dragon. They had hoped the day would start out fine for once but the memory of their guests started coming back.

"Derek did say Leo would blow up something twice. I just didn't believe it like that." Spyro pulled open the door as the dragons headed towards Leo's room.

Some thoughts ran in their heads as to what had happened. Heading out they head straight towards Leo's room. But the door was already opened. Cautiously stepping closer Spyro pushes on door open, just enough to see the room's state. The once clean room was now a complete mess. The cushions that made up a bed were pushed to one wall with the other furniture tipped over or moved. Ash layered the ground in a thick dusting. Near the back wall a clear spot wasn't covered.

"They must of been here already." She said. Looking around they could see the spot where something was sitting with foot prints all around it.

 _Even Earlier…_

"Leo?" Jack asked as he pushed the door open more. Him, Ben Danny and Mike were all standing at his door in full uniform. Stepping inside they examined the soot covered room. In the middle of the place was a overturned trap laid smoking. Not like it captured something but something broke out.

"Leo?" He asked again.

 _*cough,cough* "_ What?" He said, slowly rnning his back up the wall to try to stand. Walking over Danny and Mike help him stay on his feet.

"What the hell happened here?" Mike asked. Leo took a few steps before finally wiping his face clean.

"I was tinkering with the power core sinkers… God my head." Leo brought up both hands to rub his aching head. Mike and Danny both took one of his arms as the 5 left the room.

"Come on. Let's get back to the trailer."

 _Present._

"If it's like the Infestation, then we're in trouble." Jack said with a grim tone.

Leo nodded in agreement, "Agreed. The Containment Unit is going to rapidly fill and even though our traps hold up well they're not the best option for holding what we capture."

"What's our equipment status?" Derek asked.

"As it stands for _everything_." Leo takes a quick drink. "Five vehicles for eight. Four Super Slammers, three Protonix and five Proton Packs with a spare, fully operational. Total of 30 ghost traps, 13 Pressure Traps, 12 wireless units and five Sabar traps. Eleven proton grenades, a sime blower, a Shock Gun, the Boson Pack. A Meson Cannon on the truck. A Proton Rifle and 2 sets of Pke disruptors that are still offline. And a portable containment unit that's almost full."

Derek thought over the list Leo had presented. Compared to last time when their equipment was still fairly dangerous and the team was still getting their name out, they were more equipped than ever now. But with during the infestation they had Ecto-6 built. The slime cannon that would be the biggest changing factor here. Then there was the PKE Disrupters.

Literally the guard dogs if the team. When fully charge any Pke energy within a given radius would be forced back or dissipated.

(The devices are directly based from the GB 2009 video game multiplayer mode. They work the same way but with different modes.)

"Make a list of possible parts we'll need to get the disrupters working. We'll need them real soon if we're going monster hunting." Derek finished off the rest of his coffee.

"As it stands from when we got here. I need a focused crystal to stabilize the charge build up. Gold wrapping and a relay board."

For a moment the 3 who stood there just held their breath. The disrupters ran on power from both the PCU and truck's cyclotron. But a focused crystal was something that was harder to get. They had to be 'the perfect diamond' for it to charge. True they had the money to get such and after one week would stop working they would send it to jewelers, but finding, testing, and refining one ounce took months.

"Try finding a relay board if you can. If not savage one of the cars that don't need it." Leo nodded as he slide out if the seat. Walking back to the containment room. "I'll go with Roger, Danny and Jack in Ecto-2. Hopefully we can find somewhere to dig."

"I'll tell Roger. " Jack squeezed back back Derek as he headed out. Leaving just Derek and Rachel. Neither of them said anything as he headed out of the trailer. Walking down the ramp he passes the three others.

"Mike, you're in charge." He said tapping Mike's shoulder as he passed him.

"Yes Sir…?" he dumbfoundedly reply. Knowing something was up.

"Alright. Here's the plan. Roger," he points at the pilot. "You, me, Jack and Danny are going gem hunting. I know the place we landed had some signs of minerals but not fully sure."

"I'll go make room." Roger hopped to his feet. Walking around the trailer he heads towards the front and up the ladder.

"Danny, you and Jack get that Boson pack ready. This could be a good time to use it." Danny just nodded as he took another drink. Jack headed back inside to get the pack.

"What about the dragons?" Ben asked. "If anything they'll try to stop us or something."

"I understand you don't trust them. I don't fully either. But let's just get along for as long as possible. First side to strike proves it." Derek says back. His decision making wasn't the best at times. Like agreeing to come here without asking really anything. Now that they have seen what this world has so far he could already feel the tension in his team growing.

(The Boson Pack is in a way like the pack in the IDW Comics. The pack is instead a dark red with a black cyclotron. The gear boxes are striped black and yellow. On the side is a black tank but not for slime. The entire left half as something like electric coils that spiral out with a cage around them and cyclotron.)

 _Meanwhile…_

Back inside the temple the guardians were all in dining hall having their morning meal.

Terrador sat at his usual spot munching on his breakfast. "Now that we've established a trust with them. Now would be the best of time to plan our move." There suggested as he finished a lamb leg.

"I do want to know more about them first." Volteer said. "They posses a means of dealing with the supernatural. And if we could find a way to do so ourselves, imagine how easy it could be for us."

"Derek said if we knew what a nuclear accelerator was. If we figured out what that is and how it works then maybe we could." Cyril thought over the idea.

He thought about what Leo and Derek told them about their equipment first being powered by a strike if lightning to build up power. But nothing about how they changed it to a way to power the packs.

"Perhaps we should first see their limits. We know they're not invincible like Spyro or Cynder and I don't want to send them out without being fully prepared."

Volteer nodded at Terrador with the statement. They only really saw the 'busters fight in a form of both solo and tandem. Plus watching them deal with that golem did so us one of their weaknesses.

"We should ask if-"Cyril was cut off as the doors burst open. A purple and black dragons rush inside with faces if panic.

"Ah, good morning Spyro, Cynder. Care for some -"

"The Ghostbusters are MISSING!" Spyro yelled out as he slid to a stop. The guardians dropped the food in their claws as they looked at the two dragons.

"Are you sure?" Volteer asked in concern.

"We don't know. No one was in their rooms but Leo's did blow up like they said. There's tracks but we don't know where they went." Cynder explained.

They look back each other for a moment. "Go, we're behind you." They stand from their sets. The two turn on the spot as they flew through the halls. In no time they made it to the main door.

Cynder, using her Wind, pushes the giant doors open wide. Swooping down the steps they land at the base of the stairs. Sitting down in the courtyard the cars and trucks all remained where they last night. But Ecto-2 was gone. Flying across the field they land on the cold steel door. They look in confusion at the setup of equipment, but shake the whole thought off for later.

"Derek, Leo, Rachel!" Spyro yelled out as he run up the inside. Cynder follows close behind as he stopped just before Rachel stepped out of the bunks.

"Oh, Morning guys." She said walking past them to the kitchen.

"Rachel? What-Where were you guys?"

"Well if you didn't feel it, Leo blew up his ghost trap around 8:00 so we got up and ready. Though it's a hour early for us, nothing a nice cup of coffee can't fix." She reaches over to the table for her cup. Taking in the last of her drink.

"Wait. Where's the others?" Cynder asked.

"Leo's working on the equipment. I'm in here, Ben and Mike are probably doing something with the cars and Derek took Danny, Jack and Roger out to find some possible diamond mines. Why?"

Both dragons didn't answer. They quickly ran out of the trailer and took flight. Zipping past the guardians as they walked up to the truck and other 'busters. The group watched as the two flew further into the distance.

"What's with them?" Mike asked as he tried looking for the same two specks in the sky.

"We had thought you all had gone missing. But it appears that you didn't. But where are the others?" Terrador looked down at the only 4 remaining Protonix members.

"Derek took the others to find a diamond crystal for a piece of our equipment." Leo said as he turned back into the trailer.

"But why? We have all kinds of enhanced gems. Tons of them." Leo instantly stopped mid step as he looked back up at Terrador.

"...Shit…" the scientist muttered through his hand that cover his face. Not knowing what else could happen.

 _Ecto-2A_

Flying across the forests and plains of the new world the four members were just watching out the window. Roger easily flew Ecto-2 like nothing as Derek sat in the co pilot seat. Staring off into the distance. Danny had his back against Derek's seat. His ecto goggles covered his eyes as he silently slept. Jack on the other hand was much different. Leaning out the opened side door he wore his goggles with a Giga Meter in hand.

"Get anything?" Derek yelled back.

"Just keep heading East. We should come up to something." Jack looked over to a small tablet that sat on the floor. On it showed both a video feed from the chopper's forward camera and another showing the area's Pke levels

So far the readings spiked almost every minute. When ever they did one if the three guys would see a disturbance in the treeline. It wasn't a surprise that even more monsters were all over the place.

"Kinda makes ya wonder. " Roger said. Taking a quick look to Derek to get his attention.

"Wonder what?"

"If we're getting paid for this?" He relied with a smirk. Derek just rolled his eyes at the cheesy reference.

"We need to stop saying quotes from the movies…"

"Why? When you, Jack and Leo first tested the slime blowers on toasters and you made them dance to Thriller."

"So what, it was amusing in Ghostbusters 2. So why not try it out for real." Derek shoot back.

"We do need to cut back on the references…" Roger thought for a bit about it. As he did Jack crawled between them holding the Giga meter.

"Strong signal just ahead. Possibly a cave." He said as Roger began descending. Slowly the Ecto approached a clearing just large enough to land in. Clouds of dust kicked up as it touches the ground. Powering down the blades the team gears up.

Danny surprisingly was the first to hop out as he strapped on the boson pack. Jack followed as he walked around, waving the meter at the ground. Derek hops out his door and stands beside him.

"Well?" He asked, looking over Jack's shoulder to read the meter.

"Getting a GBE of 12.659. Straight ahead." Pointing to a small deformation in the ground. Walking closer he and Danny both walked closer to the hole. Derek looks back as he watches the other door pop open.

"Set the shield to full power. We can't risk having a monster destroying Ecto-2." Nodding, Roger pops open a small panel in the middle of the seats. Turning a dial till the display showed 'Max 10' he slides out his door as the shielding quickly formed cover. The shield was like the ones used on the pack's, but instead acted more like deflectors.

"Alright, let's go." Walking over to the hole the team stops just before the edge. Looking down into the dark cave. Reaching over their shoulders everyone switches on the spot lights mounted on their packs. Danny was the first to descend as Jack stood closely behind with his meter. Derek stood by his side with his PKE while Roger followed up the rear.

"Interesting… the signals coming from everywhere and nowhere. Impossible to get a significant fix." Jack pulled out his Pke as the wings shot up for a second before dropping back. The green bar graph was just pinching the top with the center bar. In time the team made their way around the caves till the tunnel itself began getting wider. But what caught their full attention was the strange glow. They knew it wasn't their lights because as they got closer the color became more clear.

" _What is that?"_ Derek whispered as they rounded a corner. Entering a large chamber with crystals of all colors sticking out of the rocky walls.

"Holy Damn." He said as they spread out across the room. A small flash emitted from behind them as Roger slide his phone back in his pocket. Jack headed over to a small crystal formation near the back wall.

"This is it. But it's buried under all this." Waving the meter over a greenish blue crystal wall. Stepping closer the others looked over the formation. Taking a mud covered rock Jack draws a X with it on the wall.

"This is where we need to blow it out." he said as Danny walked up. Reaching back he pulls the giant thrower of the side of his pack. Flipping the activator as the pack comes to life. Derek steps behind as he adjusts the knobs on the main gearbox.

"We'll start at 40 percent power. It should keep burning or tissue damage to a minimum." Double checking the settings Derek takes several steps back to join the others.

"Don't worry. I got this." Danny smirked as he turned the power up to 70. The pack's hum quickly grows louder and deeper as he takes aim at the crystals. Jack instantly notice as he got worried.

"WAIT! THATS TOO MUCH-"

' _ **CH-OOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM'**_

A large plume of dust fills the room. Shards of rock and crystal fly everywhere as the others try avoiding getting hit. Danny stood there in the same spot was he slowly turned around.

"... Power…"

"I said I got it." He smirked as everyone else groaned. Walking up to him Jack scans the shattered crystals.

"Their condition is a bit ill for what we really need. But these will work."

"Alright… anyone bring a crate or something? Derek asked.

"It's back in the Ecto." Roger answered. Figuring that he would be the one to get it he turned back and head up the cave again.

 _Spyro and Cynder_

The two dragons were frantically flying as fast as they could. They didn't really know where the other Ghostbusters went but had a idea if where they could of gone.

"Do you know where we're going?!" Cynder shouted out.

"Not really!" Spyro shouted back as they kept their paste. They were just below the cloud line as they searched for any signs of the humans.

"Down There!" Cynder yelled out. Pointing to a white mass in the trees. Dropping air they both swoop down to the clearing where Ecto-2 sat.

"Guys!" Spyro ran up to the chopper. Looking inside he tried seeing anyone but saw nothing.

"Spyro, over here!" Looking back he saw Cynder disappear under the ground. Dashing over he saw the mouth of the cave she had gone down. Cynder was already flying through the darkness with her magic to give off a dark light that she could only see. Like night vision.

Passing by she could see the glow at the end with 4 different voices echoing through the rock. Before she could stop or slow down enough she takes the corner hard. Flying straight into a blue figure.

' _OMPF_ '

Cynder falls to the ground as Derek lands on his pack with the hard impact. Her head landed on his chest as he let out a heavy groan. Shaking her head clear for a moment Cynder looks down at Derek. A deep blush escaped from her as she quickly got off.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry Derek!" She quickly said. He slowly leaned back up as he took in a deep breath.

"It's fine. Won't be the first time…" he said getting back to his feet. Before he could however a purple mass came into view. Knocking him back over.

"Hello… Spyro." Derek closed his eyes as his aching body felt like it was at its limit. Spyro carefully flies of off him as he lands at Cynder's side. Jack and Roger come up to him as they help the fallen get back up.

"I don't know what's worse. Getting slimed or getting hit back two dragons with 10 seconds of each other…" Holding his head with a hand he dusts himself off. "So what are you two doing here?" He asked.

"We thought you guys were in trouble and went missing. We saw Leo's room but you guys weren't anywhere." Spyro explained more about what happened.

"So? We got up earlier than usual. Figured out what had to be done to day and did it." Pointing back at the crate of crystal behind them.

"What's that for?" The purple dragon asked.

"For our Pke Disrupters. They need a specific crystal to charge properly and these had the closest match to what he need." Jack added.

Spyro and Cynder both looked at each other for a moment. Thinking why they didn't ask for help.

"So why didn't you ask us to come? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is out here." Cynder exclaimed at the leader.

"Cynder, we've faced almost every form of monster the ghost world or normal hauntings could cook up. The things here, yes they are a bit more bigger and stronger but they all end up the same way. We can handle ourselves." Derek said back as the others nodded in agreement. But before either side could say another world the ground and pound them violently shook. Causing dirt to fall from the roof and crystals to shake.

"Earthquake?" Danny asked looking around. Everyone does the same but is stopped at what they saw. Each crystal shard that was around them turned into a dark purplish black as they seemed to grow.

The rock around their bases started giving away as the forms grew in mass. Claws, heads and legs sprouted from the crystal as one by one the room quickly filled up with slime monsters.

But these monsters however were different compared to the normal slime monster or abomination. They were mixed with the same form of what the Earth Monster was but instead if stone was made out of crystal.

The team goes back to back as Spyro and Cynder stood by Derek's sides. The monsters all rear back as they all let out screeches. Everyone pulls their neutron guns as Danny turned up the power on the boson pack.

"Well Shit... " Derek muttered as he and the others switched on their packs.

* * *

Shows more about the past adventures the team has had, more interaction between human and dragon, new equipment and a few bloopers.

This did also show that the team isn't invincible. Technology can break, teammates might disagree or fall down. And etc.

During Leo's case with the trap, the power core sinkers are what allows the trap to make a 'Tornado' from the main capture cone with the 4 side doors doing the real capturing. Improper adjustment to the sinkers could cause it to warp back in a manner similar to a ghost breaking free.

Ecto-2A is one of three helicopters the Protonix Ghostbusters use. Ecto-2A is a modified EC645 T2 that is their primary air transport. Ecto-2B and Ecto-2c are both Xenon Ultralight Gyrocopters. 2B is more equipped for high speed, street level jobs that can maneuver in between the tall buildings. It's mostly used as a Rapid Response vehicle and only has a under belly mounted Super Slammer. 2C how ever is just a spare chopper that just has the red and white color and logo.

The team is now in the Avalar playing field as they, along with the dragons, are now faced with the spawns from the new threat. The Guardians question the wonder of the Ghostbusters equipment as they try to figure out how a Proton Pack truly works.

Anyone see the Five Nights at Freddy's reference? And also if you do like reading this please give back any thoughts. No negative comments.


	7. Busting Up Avalar

Author's Note: I known that this is a crossover story most wouldn't expect but I know 'some' people are reading this and I would like to know what you think about it so far. Any questions or thoughts would be greatful.

* * *

Chapter 7: Busting Up Avalar

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _New York City_

 _2 Days after the Protonix Ghostbusters Disappearance._

 _"This is the CBS News at 6:00, With Scott Baring."_

 _"Good Evening, we start by bringing you an update on the breaking news story from New York._

 _Law enforcement and national guard have been called in to aid the NYPD in searching through the entire island of Manhattan in the hopes of finding out about the disappearance of the Protonix Ghostbusters._

 _The team of 8 was last seen or heard from Tuesday when eyewitnesses reported bright flashes of purple light all over the city. But what has most worried was that at each event one of the Ghostbusters was seen disappearing._

 _What's even more astonishing, the 8 Hook and Ladder firehouse that serves as the Ghostbusters headquarters and heavily known from the movies, is gone. No sign of the buildings or even the hole in the ground that houses their Containment Unit remains. Along with the vehicle bay and tractor trailers that sat in the back lot._

 _The Ghostbusters from Pittsburgh, Boston, and Washington DC have been called in to investigate the situation and maintain order. The Rogue Ghostbusters, mostly knowing as Unit 3 of the New York's Protonix division, say that this event might have to do with the black slime as a resurge in activity. The other teams agree to this since the events of two years ago had dropped the paranormal rate down. But as of lately the activity as steadily picked up._

 _The celebration of the 5 year Anniversary of the Protonix Ghostbusters has been postponed by the Mayor of New York City do to the circumstances of the strange events. Causing many many to wonder,"_

 _"Where are the Protonix Ghostbusters? "_

* * *

 _Avalar/Crystal Cave_

"Well Shit…" Derek muttered as he and the others powered up their packs.

"6 against…" "6 against 60?" Danny finished Jack's sentence.

"Anyone got a plan?" Jack asked. Keeping aim at any monster that tried to move. He kept his finger just over the secondary fire. If so much as one monster came closer he'll let loose on his Shock Blast.

"Cross the streams?" Everyone except the dragons all looked back to the pilot. "Okay so that doesn't always work."

They all waited. The monsters seemed to circle are the room. Like a bird over dead prey. While the team watched, Spyro was just ready to unleash hell on earth. Cynder was in the same boat as her eyes glowed a deep rage red.

"On the count of 3?" Derek asked as they others nodded. "Alright… Get Set," he says aiming to the higher level. "3!"

In a blind flash of light all 4 Ghostbusters opened fire. Danny was already chewing away the crystal with the rapid fire of bosons. The pack's cores were fully out, allowing instant cool down and practically endless fire. Jack quickly switched up and sent sets of bolts bouncing all over the room from his Plasma Inductor. Each bolt would land a hit on one monster before being reflected off. The bounce back made the bolts go faster as a they smashed into others.

Derek and Roger went out full proton as Derek's Ion Cannon sent out large wave like nets. (For better knowledge, the Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime Feremon Shock.) That in general did little damage but kept the monsters mostly dazed.

All the while Spyro and Cynder broke off from the circle and flew throughout the chamber. Spyro utilized his Earth element to send giant slabs of rock at each monster in his view. One had tried to grab him but the dragon reacted by firing a large, dagged spoke from the ground. Piercing through the monster's chest as it collapsed to pieces. Cynder was both fighting and enjoying herself. She flew high above the group and spiraled downward from the ceiling. Dosing monsters in layers of poison mist. The acid like clouds melted away at their crystal bodies till they would end up being blasted by one if the ghostbusters. The amount of monsters in the chamber rapidly dropped as all 6 didn't let up. The dragons both regrouped at the other end of the chamber as they went back to back.

"This is crazy-" Spyro's eyes widened as he jumped over Cynder, ramming his head into a charging monster, sending it to the ground in chunks. "I take that back, this is Insane!"

"You think this is crazy?!" Derek yelled over to them in the mess. Making his way over to them. Sending a Boson to a direct hit on a monster's head. "This is nothing compared to stuff on a normal basis!" He looked at the dragon. Not paying attention he fires another Boson. The ball of energy flies past three monsters and collides with a overhanging rock. Before they could move the rock collapsed, crushing all three creatures.

As another pair started their charge Cynder looks too them and inhales deeply before lurching forward. Sending a large cloud of mist to the monsters. At first it doesn't effect the creatures. Not until Derek flung his stream at the monsters did the reaction of the poison and proton stream did they both fully die. In no time the count rapidly dropped till the last monster exploded in shards.

"Hold you fire!" Derek shouts out. Cutting his stream as he vented his pack. The others cease fire as their packs all overheat, popping out the cores before sliding back in. Looking around the group eyes their handy work. Large burn marks and blown pits littered the chamber as either bubbling or smoking piles of crystal laid all over.

"Well, that was fun." Danny chuckled. Roger just rolled his own yes as Jack holstered his wand. Reaching down he plucked his Pke off his belt. Unlike the others his meter was both slim and bulky. A antenna with a center wand and two arms that bent down lite up I'm a pink hue with the display screen in a deep green.

(Jack's Pke is the same from the Reboot poster showing 'Patty' holding the meter. He's the only who uses it because it's a prototype.)

Scanning around the chamber his feeling of concern grew. The level of energy the meter was reading was higher than when they walked in. But with the creatures gone it should of dropped.

"Slime!" Someone shouted out. Everyone instantly looks over to where the voice should of been to watch as a large crack formed at the base of the wall. Black Slime started to rush out of the hole as the crack spider webbed out. The team quickly switched to slime blowers (except Danny) as they tried hosing down the rapidly building slime. They didn't even notice that to both their sides the walls were sitting out more black slime. The dug out in the floor was quickly filling up as the all back tracked to the cave. The cave's floor was just a foot higher than the chamber's. Making it slightly safer ground.

"There's too much of it!" Roger yelled as he built up a mid sized slime mine. Sending it to one set of cracks. The slime sticks for a moment before exploding out. It successfully covers the breech but it wasn't capable of slowing the slime down. Spyro himself tried to plug up the holes with stone but whenever one crack was covered another formed causing the level of slime to quickly rise over the lip of the step.

"Guys, we have a problem!" Danny pulled his meter out. The dials on the screen were flat red. Everyone stopped firing as they looked over to the other side. The piles of crystal and stone were bubbling in the black slime as they were engulfed. Several claws, heads and bodies sprouted out.

"Black Slime Monsters, fan-freakin-tastic…" Roger muttered as he started up his blower again. The others joined in as even Danny tried using the boson pack to destroy the forming monsters. But to even their combined power the monster's kept coming. All making their way towards them.

"Everyone out, NOW!" Derek yelled az he fired the rest of his tank. Everyone takes heed as they all scrambled out. Once his tank was out he turned back. Following closely behind the others. Ahead of them, using his fire breath Spyro lead the way out with a cloud of flames just out of his mouth.

"There!" Cynder yelled as they all made the final dash. They all jump out of the mouth as Derek slowed to a paste. Looking over his shoulder he could hear the roars grow closer. But looking around the entrance an idea sparked.

"Seal it Up!" Everyone stops and turns on their heels. Everyone switches to proton as they and the dragons fired at the roof of the cave. Rock quickly fell to the ground as the ground rumbled. Causing the inner cave to collapse. Clouds of dust instantly shot out the entrance with shards of stone. Every holds their hands or throwers up to block the flying pieces.

Once it was done they made a semi circle around the collapsed. The Ghostbusters knew it would slow the slime and Monsters down for only so long.

"That oughta do it." Spyro smirked.

"No, Black Slime of this amount can do whatever it wants. Right now we just delayed it from killing us." Derek grimmly said.

"Did anyone get a scan on those crystals?" Derek asked, Waiting for a moment nobody answered back.

"Great… let's just hope the others aren't doing anything like this." he says as he hopped into Ecto-2. _  
_

* * *

 _Warfang_

Back at the temple the remaining ghostbusters were all sitting in the trailer. Leo was sitting on the roof rack of the trailer working on the disrupters. A small hatch in the middle of the second rack as wide open with several cables leading down inside. Mike stood in the containment room as he held a flashlight in his mouth. Plugging different wires and connectors into different ports.

"Alright Docks you ready?" Leo shouted down.

"Ready!" Mike yelled back. Climbing out he goes to the access board that controlled all of the equipment on the truck. Filling four small switches that ran the top board. Each one lite up a red Led as the cables glowed a deep blue.

Outside the trailer on each corner 4 small poles started rising. Unlike the original disrupters that need someone to stand beside to charge one. As a result of a ghost was to hit it or the person was too far away it would loose power. But because the truck and trailer ran a giant 20 core cyclotron, the four disrupters on the vehicle had a much more powerful punch on pke energy, had a much larger range of effect and was more portable than station towers.

Each pole reached up seven feet above the roof. The top halves split into 4 arms as they all spread out. A small red amber light rotated on the very tops, indicating power.

"Deployed!" Leo checked over the tablet in his lap that connected to each pole.

"Alright, start at ten percent and Slowly work it up." Moving down to a dial knob Mike clicks the switch. Four white power cells light up underneath as he started working up the power.

"We're at 20 percent!" He yelled up. Leo kept watching the tablet that displayed the intensity of the output and general structure. Because they were now running with a crystal core, the influx of power could potentially destroy them.

"Keep it coming." Leo said, taking a quick glance around him. Mike twisted the dial higher.

"Approaching 50 percent!" The moment he said that the main power set exploded in a cloud of sparks. Up top the disrupters all erupted in a shower of sparks and clouds of smoke.

"Stop, Stop! SHUT IT OFF!" Leo yelled out. Mike quickly jumped back in the storage, ripping the power cables of the main board.

(This part was mainly a reference to the scene in Star Wars where Han is fixing the Falcon while Chewy is in the cockpit when some short-circuits.)

"Mike," Leo stuck his head through the hatch.

"Yes?"

"Damn this world and the next…" That was all he said before slowly withdrawing his head. Mike chuckled quietly as he went back to the control unit. Leo however was half tempted to through his tablet as far as he could and kick the equipment. But being the 25 year old professional he was, he just sighed deeply.

"Leo?" Rachel called out from the side. Crawling over the equipment he looked down to see her with her arms wrapped around crates. Ben walked past her with three more.

"Food?" He pointed to the crates. Rachel nods as a smile of satisfaction went across his face. Hopping over the cables he climbs down the ladder, dashes around the trailer and jumps up the ramp.

Over in a shady spot just across the courtyard from the team the guardians themselves sat in the grass plots that circled the main fountain. Letting the sun light warm them as they watched.

"I still don't get it." Terrador said with a heavy thought behind it. "So long after Malefor's defeat everything is fine. Then this Black Slime starts showing up and now we have 8 beings from another world with the power to stop the paranormal. What is this world coming to…"

"If what they say is true, and after what we've seen lately i have no doubt to believe that they can help solve our problem." Cyril turned to the earth dragon. "They show a strong connection to each other as a team and friends. Something of that both Spyro and Cynder share. What do you think Volteer?" The lightning dragon didn't respond. Instead he was busy writing down on a piece of paper while glancing at the parked vehicles.

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I was busy writing down what had happened to Leo Johns over there." Volteer pointed to the truck. "Someone is gonna recorded this and I wanna make sure it has every possible detail." Terrador just rolled his eyes at Volteer's' words.

"At the level of interest you have in the Ghostbusters right now Volteer, you could be their first…" Terrador became a little stumped at trying to think of the word.

"Fan?" Cyril finished for Terrador.

"Yes. A Fan, here in Warfang. I swear I've never seen you this fascinated over something. Though your curiosity is agreeable. I just wonder how much we can help." Looking back they watched Ben running out of the trailer, laughing out loudly while holding on a large fruit. Rachel ran out with a frying pan in a hand with a angry look on her face.

"They're still so young. But yet done so much and have much to do." Volteer wondered. "I wonder what it would be like we were in their place." This made both ice and earth dragons to slowly turn their heads to the him.

"Why?" Terrador asked. Not really wanting an answer to that question.

"Perhaps they could answer." Volteer pointed back to the truck. Leo stood at the door with a tablet at hand while he waved over to them. Taking the chance the electric dragon made a quick haste over. Shrugging the other two get up to follow. Crossing the courtyard in moments they lower their heads down to the level of the trailer.

"Leo, is there something you need help with?" Volteer asked. Reading himself for any question.

"What can you tell us about the level Convexity here?" Leo's question made each dragon tense up like statues. They were flabbergasted at how he even knew what Convexity was.

''How do you know about Convexity…?" Terrador said shakingly.

"Because according to the energy sample I just got from the ecto scope, a area the size of 800 miles is teeming with high concentrations of it. And we've only gotten this kind of readings when we found the slime reservoir under New York City 3 years ago. It's a dark energy type that is mostly common with Class 12 super entities." Terrador couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt like he was in school all over again.

"We know the effects of it. The Dark Master, Malefor, was corrupted by the Dark powers he possessed. He used it to try and destroy the world. But Spyro and Cynder defeated him some time ago."

"What did he do?" Rachel asked as she finished putting away the crate of food.

"He started a war that pledged the entire world. Whole armies fell from his claws. Even other guardian dragons like us were wiped out. It wasn't until some time ago before his defeat that he tried to destroy the world. To rebirth it." The three dragons paused for a moment while flashes of events raced by.

"Dark Master? I call that a load of bull." Mike leaned against Derek's motorcycle. Making the dragons come back to reality. "In every story told that has a hero and a villain, the villain is always a being that calls himself the Lord or Master of 'insert name here' that tends to live up slightly to that name or fails miserably and is just all talk." Leo nodded in agreement.

"He is right. Though I would like to know more about this Malefor, I would prefer if Derek was hear to listen too. But back to Mike's point, Super powered beings always fall to a point. You said he was defeated. If he was strong enough to wipe out whole armies by himself it would take the force of the universe to match that level of power." Mike rolled his eyes at Leo's statement. He was a scientist on the outside but to everyone be was a nerd on the inside. In a good way of course. Leo turns and heads back into the PCU room while Rachel and Ben went out to get more crates of food.

Walking back over to where they were the three dragons sat back down. Not saying a single word. The thought that they just brushed off what Malefor had done and tried to do like it was a normal occurrence sent chills down their spines. Except Cyril, it felt more like a burn.

But the sound of a louder engine made them look behind them. Looking in the air they saw the white mass zip by them. Flying over to the vehicles the Ecto-2 slowly descended to the ground. Kicking up rocks and a cloud of dust that filled the area. The dragons used their front claws to try to avoid being blinded. Once they were at the trailer they looked up to see the spinning blades come to a halt.

"Roger, tell Leo to reinstall the omniaxe cannon. We're really gonna need it." A voice said as the side doors popped open. The four members and two dragons all stepped onto the roof.

"Spyro, Cynder." Cyril said getting their attention. The two look back before swooping off the side. Landing just to their right. The look of exhaustion was visible for both. "I see you two had seen some action. How'd it go?"

"Slime, crystal monsters, slime monsters and more slime." The purple dragon said as his legs collapsed underneath him.

"Crystal monsters? Like the one we first encountered?"

"And what was that like?" Derek walked around the left side.

"Weeks ago we got a report of a strange surge of dark energy. We five investigated and it was when we first encountered the black slime. And how I got the lash across my side." Terrador explained.

Derek thought for a moment as he came up with something. "Interesting. It seems that the slime is fusing with new materials to be stronger. Stone and Crystal."

"Which means we have to dish out more damage if they're made of it." Leo said walking out. "Did you find any?"

"Fortunately, Yes. It wasn't a hundred percent but useable. Unfortunately it was smashed and overtaken by black slime." Sighing Leo placed the tablet on the counter.

"At the condition the disrupters are at. We're better off using charger units. If we had any…"

"You took them off the truck didn't you?" Roger said from behind. Leo just brought his hand to his forehead and leaned back. Not wanting to have a awkward silent moment, Leo quickly remembered what he was thinking about.

"Derek, you know the level of Convexity in New York back then?" Leo asked. Making Spyro and Cynder to perk up in interest. Stepping up they climb up the trailer ramp into the vehicle port where Ecto-X1 stood.

"Yeah… it's the reason why Shandor was able to come through. Why?"

Before Leo could answer all the lights in the trailer went out. The entire unit violently shook like it was in the middle of a earthquake. Outside the entire city was shaking as everyone tried to hang on.

"What's happening?!" Rachel yelled hanging onto the table. The others couldn't answer as a flash of bright blue light surged through the trailer. Passing through each buster and dragon before continuing on through the temple and the rest of the city. Once it past the shaking slowly started to decrease till it finally stopped. As the lights all flashed back on they all finally got their balance back.

"Was that us?" Spyro asked as they looked around.

"I don't think so." Derek check the computers. Each one of the different charts showed a massive spike .

"A Si Energy Pulse." Leo said checking his Pke and Gigameters. "Class 10 or higher." He added. Everyone tensed up at the news of what had hit. They knew from both playing through one and stopping one. But for Spyro and Cynder they both stood at the door. The guardians, due to their size, just stuck their heads I'm the door.

"Is a Class 10… ah.. Whatever. Bad or, Real bad?" Cynder asked.

"On a scale of one to ten I would say-"

"Let me guess, it's a 10" Ben said crossing his arms at Leo's answer.

"Let's just say we're about to get real busy." Derek said walking past the dragons.

* * *

Most points in the story will be based on pieces from the Ghostbusters Universe. Such as the Si Energy Pulse is like the one from the Video Game. The team referencing and referencing the movies, games and etc will be heavy because this is Our world. The one where everything about Ghostbusters is fiction. This is why the Protonix are the first real Ghostbusters ever. Most of the dialogue in this are direct lines or references to the GB universe. Such as the last 4 lines are straight out of the opening scene in the Video Game.

The idea of how Convexity is related to Black Slime/Ecto is because of its main dark, demonic based properties. Looking at how Spyro, Cynder and Malefor all utilize a form of darkness (Like Dark Spyro) this makes sense in how the main threat will play in the story. Especially when Chapter ## Overloaded comes.

A reason why Mike is put in charge is mostly because of his coordination with others due to his experience as a police officer.

In the way the team is made up, the ranks vary from the way the team was made.

Derek being the team leader from being the most experienced Ghostbuster before anyone to creating/building the equipment. In the first story Leo was in a way the second Ghostbuster when Derek started but only as a tech guy that help walk Derek through the situation. He and Rachel both joined Derek to form the original three when the secret of ghostbusting got out. Rachel was more of the into the books but adventurous type girl who did have a slight crush on Derek during high school. When she and Leo help Derek during a monster case she said she wanted to get to know more about the idea of ghostbusting.

Roger came on board when the team need to get to far away jobs fast and Roger became an unofficial buster that eventually joined. Ben and Danny joined when they tried ruining the team's name but almost ended up dying with a dozen others. They went to court and had to due a year of community service for the Ghostbusters. Even though they did serve the sentence, they stayed because if the good pay and excitement the job brought with it.

Mike and Jack were the only New Yorkers. Mike originally was like a very scaled down version of Walter Peck but when he was saved by the team for getting crushed and helping him to solve a case, he stayed on board with them as a more direct hold to the city. Jack was the last to join. Like Leo he was more of a technician that worked company that hired the Ghostbusters. He was heavily fascinated by the equipment and helped develop the Protonix Pack.

So the order would go Derek, Leo, Rachel, Mike, Roger, Jack, Danny and Ben. A story about how they fully came together will be explained later on. The story is projected to have about 55 chapters, so plenty of story to build up.


	8. Back Off Man, I'm a Ghostbuster

Chapter 8: Back off Man, I'm a Ghostbuster

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Note: This chapter is more of its informational type than full story but there will be some 'busting' towards the end. This explains several things regarding the Protonix Ghostbusters such as past events,why they keep referencing other ghostbusters, know convexity and so forth. This chapter will be a reference point and spoiler to future stories.

* * *

"Let's just say we're about to get real busy." Derek said walking out of the trailer.

Placing some distance he pulled up his eci goggles over his eyes. On the distance he could see a wall of pink moving farther away. Standing there till he couldn't see the wave anymore he pulled the goggles over his forehead. Looking to his side's to see Leo, Rachel, Jack and Mike beside him.

"I would like to walk around the city to get more scans and EMF readings. We're gonna need to know the effect of the pulse wave on the area." He looked over to Leo.

"You guys find anything that can get the disrupters working at least 60 power. Roger, you and Mike get it in the air and check the surrounding area outside the city limits. Report any sign of anything paranormal. Avoid making contact. Jack, get every piece of equipment we have at hand to 100 percent operational. Danny, Ben," Looking over the two were busy munching on more fruit.

"You two hop in Ecto-4 and patrol the perimeter." Immediately the two started walking away. But not before they tried taking a few more bites of the food.

"You can take the fruit too. We'll all meet back here at 9:30." Their eyes lite up as they tossed the food in a empty crate and headed out. They both dashed over to the truck that was parked right beside the trailer; shutting their doors the two start heading towards the gate. Latching on the handles on the back Derek steps onto the back bumper and is taken away

"Perhaps you two should go with him." Rachel looked down at Spyro and Cynder. "He may know what he's doing but this isn't New York."

Nodding in agreement the two jump into the air. Taking flight after the truck. Squeezing by the closing gate they flew just above the street but lost sight of the Ecto. Flying higher they got to the point where they did see Ecto-4 drive out of the main gate. Looking closely they still didn't see him.

"Where did he go?" Spyro asked looking around. Niether of them could see him until a moving clearing in the crowd down the block gave them the idea. Sure enough Derek was walking down the middle of the street with his meter out and goggles over his eyes. Most of the dragons and moles that still didn't know about the Ghostbusters being here made many stay close to the sides when he walked by.

"Hey Derek!" Cynder shouted as they flew closer to the ground. Getting a running start they ran straight at the Ghostbuster. He goes to turn around but is knocked back down for the second time that day by both dragons.

"FUUuuuuu….." His lungs spilled out all the air in them. Quickly getting off the two help the human back to his feet.

"You all right?" Cynder asked as he slowly pulled his goggles up.

"I don't like this world anymore.. First I get clobbered by a rock monster. Then became a landing pad for you two. What's next, Possession?" He said as he turned back to the way he was heading. Both dragons stayed by his side as they walked about.

Almost all heads turned to them. Some fixated on Spyro were dragonesses with the look. (You know the one.) Cynder got more blank or crude looks. Then there was Derek. Despite what happened the day before, Ecto-2 fling in and out, and a convoy of vehicles driving through the city, most dragons looked at him in curiosity. Some whispering to others.

"Well this brings back memories." Derek said looking around before pulling the goggles back down.

"How so?" Cynder asked.

"Well. Back when I first started, and I told you guys this before when we first met, I was originally called the Rogue Ghostbuster or Rogue Ghost. It was around the time my secret got out and that because of how fast news travels in my world I became national headlines. While this did bring in more business for me people still tended on looking at me and think 'What the hell is this guy doing?' But after one of the more major events that made Leo and Rachel join the looks we would get from going down a street suited up was just like this."

Spyro agreed. Though some things he didn't fully understand were there he was surprised that what Derek did became national. What ever that meant to the dragon.

"But it was mostly a pain in the ass for us." Derek said with a more downed tone. "First week or two I became the number one person on the planet. But that made people go beyond crazy. I would either get a call in a town, do the job, and walk out the building with a loaded trap and a nuclear accelerator while dozens of people crowded around. True it brought in a huge boom in business and got our name out, it was hell."

"So why didn't you stop? If it was that much of trouble then why continue?" The black dragoness said.

"Because of several reasons. One being the equipment. A Proton Pack was meant to be a prop for entertainment. While it's function was to capture ghosts, it's the most dangerous weapon in the universe."

"Come on. It can't be that bad." Spyro brushed off the thought.

"Try imagining all life as you know it stopping instantly and every molecule in you body exploding at the speed of light. Remember that?"

Spyro face slowly dropped back to the look of worry as he turned back to face the road. "Alright that's bad."

"Yep. But that's just equipment. Another is the general ghost problem of my world. The Northeast corner of the country is where most of the world's heaviest concentration of paranormal activity is. All thanks to the slime lake under a city of 8 million."

"So what do you do when you guys aren't busting?" Cynder thought.

"Well it depends. Rachel works as a nurse. Jack and Leo work at the university of Columbia. Ben and Danny run a small auto garage. Roger flies for news stations across the city. He's the only one to get overworked because of how fast he can report something. Mike's a part time cop for the NYPD and I stay at the firehouse to maintain things and answer all calls. But sometimes I would go out to events to sponsor us and try to bring in new clients. The kids just love us. They always ask if we're afraid of what we do."

"And are you?" The dragoness said.

"I ain't afraid of no Ghost." Derek chuckled. He always got a good laugh whenever someone would ask that and it was his answer. "So tell me about you two since me and my team have told you guys about us."

"Well it's a strange story both ways." Spyro started. Thinking about where to begin. "Well I've seen different kinds of strange so nothing won't really surprise me anymore." Derek silently laughed as Spyro rolled his eyes.

"Well, say around five years ago I didn't really know much. I was taken from the original Temple by Ignitus when a raid of the egg chamber destroyed all the eggs except 2. I was hatched and raised by a family of dragonflies that adopted me as one of their own."

"So is that why I hear Sparx call you his brother a lot?" Derek asked.

"Yep. It wasn't until when I was older when I found out the truth. I went out to find who I was meant to be. Finding each of the Guardians, learning the four main elements, and even confronting Malefor army at times."

Derek was somewhat surprised. It felt like the case of Superman leaving home, going about a fake life till he realizes the truth. Looking back to his left he eyed Cynder.

"So what's your story?" He asked her. She didn't respond right away and only looked to the ground.

"It wasn't the greatest of times…" closing her eyes for a moment. Trying to still forget the past to even this day.

"Let me guess, you were that second egg?"

Cynder's eyes widened in shock at the response. _How did he know that?_ She thought.

"I've been able to read people through their eyes like books. Leo does it better but I have a good hold on it. When people who are in early stages of either extreme depression or possession shows signs of regret like a shadow covering them. I can see the fire and brimstone in your eyes at just a thought of it. So I won't pressure you to tell your side of the history if you don't want to."

"Thanks Derek." She said looking up to him with a small smile. But he mostly didn't notice because of his focused view through the lens.

"So how do you guys know about Convexity?" Cynder asked. Wanting to know how something from their world was connected to Derek's.

"Convexity is one of the dark forces that makes up the Ghost World between realities. It's like Black Ecto but has a much more 'possessive' effect on things. Leo and I first discovered it back when I first started ghostbusting 6 years ago. When the first reports of ghosts started popping up we looked into what was the cause. But with proton packs, traps and everything the problem was dealt with easily.

Egon Spengler, a fictional Ghostbuster we met during the Shandor event 2 years ago developed a theory that Black Ecto is a by product to something else and that convexity is the main source. And that these two are used in what we think is the manufacturing of Black Slime, and it's refined form of Mood Slime. But yet even with so much advanced equipment we can't figure how it fully works still."

"Mood Slime? What the heck does that do." Spyro asked.

"Mood Slime is a refined form of Black Slime but has a more… reactive effect. If you yell mean things or insults it long enough it would most likely explode and draw in a heavy form of paranormal activity. Mostly in a form of a ghost. Our slime blowers." Pointing to the green tanks on his pack. "Use the same slime but with heavy doses of positive energy that neutralizes Black, Mood and other slimes. Reveal invisible objects and reverse possessions."

"Damn. So, say if I was to fight with someone, it would pick up energy from it?"

"Like hungry termites in a redwood tree, Spyro." Letting the info settle down the three round a corner as they headed into the more cultural district. Shops, venues, restaurants and other businesses lined the road. Keeping their path much more clear for them. Walking past a large plaza they still had eyes all over them.

 _ **SPLAT**_

A blob of meat fell in front of them. Looking back they watched as a two dragons argued. One walked away into the building while the other just laughed. The dragon himself seemed bigger than either legendaries. Spyro, plus horns, only went up to Derek's stomach. This dragon possibly went up to the human's shoulders. He was a dark, mossy green color with a mud brown underbelly. Two curled horns stuck out from his head but to Derek's surprise the left one was missing.

"Dredge." Spyro said with a hint of venom in his voice. "He's one of the strongest earth dragon's that goes to the temple school. He like teasing anyone that he looks down to. Even us, especially Cynder." Spyro explained as the trio walked by the group. Derek looked down to his left to see Cynder's try to hide herself from view. Using both him and Spyro as cover. They speed walked away but Derek knew his appearance would draw attention. Rounding another corner the three keep moving on. Reaching up with his free hand Derek twisted a side knob on his goggles. The interface changed to something that would be like virtual reality but with shades of green. Twisting another knob he rotates the image to where he could see behind him.

"Don't look now." Derek said to them. "But we're being followed."

Spyro carefully glanced over his shoulder to see who it was. Dredge, and beside him was two more earth dragons. A more skinny green and black dragon that Spyro knew as Ivy. Short for poison ivy. And a much more bulky dragon that was slightly shorter then Dredge himself. He was the same green as the other but with a two tone brown underbelly.

"Dredge and his pals. Ivy and Bog." Derek choked a little at the sound of their names. It was like the three were named in the swamp. Looking around stores one caught Derek's attention.

"In there." He said walking to his left. Directing Cynder first as the two followed closely inside. Pulling his goggles back up and holstering his meter Derek takes a long look at the new surroundings. Different types of weapons and materials lined the walls like a Ace hardware store. Swords, axes shields and even armour.

"Hey Gears!" Spyro shouted out towards the back. The sound of boxes and metal falling came as answer. Stepping out into the room was another Mole. This one wore actual overalls with a dirty brown apern.

"Ah Spyro! It's good to see you again." The mole greeted. Turning to human his expression quickly dropped. "And I suppose you're one of the 'Ghostbusters' that's been talked about all over the city?" He asked.

"Yep. Derek Stewart." He leaned down, stretching his hand out. Gears gladly took his hand into a friendly shake. "So people know of us?"

"Well the rumors are a bit unclear. Most regarding how someone like you can use such power and strength to kill monsters."

"Yep," Derek looks back to the dragons. "Brings back old memories. Say is there any place we could stay for a moment? My feet are killing me in these boots."

"Oh! Of course!" Gears stepped aside as he held a curtain that was draped over the door away. "Right this way."

Stepping forward Derek headed in first. Crouching down to avoid hitting the gun handle of the door frame. Inside the new space as a much large room. Crates of various materials laid about one side of the room while another had that of what looked like a poorly set up living room. Stepping past him the dragons head over to the more furnitured part and sat down on the old carpet.

"Please, make yourself comfy." Gears brushed by Derek's leg as he went to rearrange a stack of crates. "Here, sit." He said dashing away. Derek gave a slight kick to the stack, making sure it was sturdy he unbuckles his pack. Setting it down against the wall as he sat down. The wood cracked a little but stayed strong. Gears walked back from a side room as he brought in to mugs. The dragons gladly took the cups as the mole turned to Derek

"Is there anything I could get you?" He asked.

"No thanks. I'm good." He waved the offer off as Gears headed back into the store. Leaving the trio alone once again. For Derek it was a bit too quiet for him but it did give him the chance to relax his feet. Leaning back he slid his hands behind his head as he felt the slow grip of a nap coming on.

"Egon Spengler." Spyro said making Derek's eyes to open up again. "You said he was fictional but yet you met him. How?" Spyro asked. Leaning back forward Derek got into a better spot.

"Well, it's a crazier story then it was like experiencing. Like I said before me and my team were the first Real Ghostbusters in our world. Doctor Egon Spengler was the scientist of the original Ghostbusters that started the whole thing. 35 years ago in our time, 2019, back in the year 1984 a motion picture movie called Ghostbusters was a massive success that started it all. Saturday morning cartoon shows, toys, games, even food brands based on the 4 Originals. Egon, Ray, Peter and Winston. In 1989 they came out with a second movie that brought to sight of the Mood slime.

But after 1990's it's popularity died down until the rumored third movie keep popping up for year until 2016. By then we were already in business and they even used our firehouse for it. Our business, equipment, name. It was all because of that one thing in 1984.

Skipping to 2017 is when it really got crazy. Me, Rachel, Jack and Mike were responding to a major spook call. When we got there and did our job we ran into 4 guys dressed just like the Originals. Because of our popularity was beyond anything a lot of people would cosplay as different generations of Ghostbusters and show up to jobs to act as support. At first they were very convincing. Voices, personalities, and uniforms.

But later when we got a monster call at Central Park, a huge grass area in the middle of the city, Things went from crazy to flat out insanity. Another team showed up. This time it was the exact same team from the 2016 movie. At this point we decided to take all 8 of them back to the firehouse. This is where we first found out that they were the real Ghostbusters.

We figured it had something to do with cross dimensional portals that were caused by the extreme amounts of black slime. Eventually we met the Extreme Ghostbusters from another cartoon. The Sanctum Ghostbusters from a video game, and another group of 4 from the same universe of the Originals."

(The Original Ghostbusters are their IDW forms but look just like the movies. The other 4 busters from their world are Janine, Bryan/The Rookie, Alexander, and (I forget the name.))

"So to long story short, Different worlds met in ours. It was all caused by Shandor himself, the 12 of us Protonix Ghostbusters (plus the Rogue Ghostbusters), our franchises all crossed the streams with the others and we blew him out of existence. Saved several worlds, exchanged technology and information, said goodbye and went back to business."

Looking at his watch he was a little surprised at how much time had already flew by.

"Well, I better get back to work." Sighing, he straps back on his pack and heads out the door. Both dragons quickly scurry out to follow.

"Thanks Gears!" Spyro shouted.

"Anytime!" The mole yelled back. Stepping outside they were slightly blinded by the sun light as it was now angled towards them.

"Hey Purple!" A deep voice yelled out

"Oh no…" Spyro sighed knowing who it belonged to.

"What do you want now Dredge." The purple dragon asked. Looking up to the earth dragon as he got closer. Spyro had on his best poker face while Cynder seemed to try and hide behind the human's legs. Derek just stood there quietly. Not moving what so ever.

"Oh I just wanted to see how my favorite little hero's doing." He said in a way to make it himself look innocent. Derek mentally barfed at the act the dragon was putting up. He saw this in high school before he became interested in the Ghostbusters. But how he dealt with them when they pushed him too far made him crack a tiny smile. Remembering that they should've known what he could do with a positron collider.

Back to the scene before him Dredge turned his attention to Cynder. But was stopped when he saw Derek standing in front of her. He was stronger than he looked. Carrying a 200 pound cyclotron can do someone more good than any gym ever. Dredge stared at the human for a moment. Their brown eyes fighting over each other. His eyes slowly looked down to the no-ghost patch on Derek's shoulder.

"What the hell are you? Their new pet ape?"

"My name is Derek Ste-" "I don't give a flying shit what your name is freak." Dredge said as much as a menacing tone as he could possibly make. By now a small crowd had gather around the two parties.

"Listen carefully. You and your pals are Not welcome here. Some said you help the Guardians stop a few monsters, but I know for a fact that you'll just sent those creatures after them just to gain their trust. And let's this be a warning. Because the first mistake will be your last."

"Funny. I gotta remember that when your green ass is floating around the containment unit." Derek technically threaten. But he kept a straight face for the most part his right hand was twiching to pull his neutrona wand. Spyro placed a claw on his leg as he shook his head.

"Let's go. He's not worth our time." Sighing Derek agreed as they turned and started walking back. Dredge smirked at the sight of them walking away.

"Oh Cynder! Try not to get wasted on that thing. We all know you like freaky things! HAHA!" Dredge turned his attention

Derek stopped dead in his tracks. Looking down he saw the Cynder with embarrassment. It was one thing to insult or tease others but that went way over the line for him. Reaching back he forcefully draws his thrower, flicking his thumb on the activator switch starting up the pack. Turning around he could still see Dredge's back slowly walking away. While it was against rules to use Proton Packs or any equipment on humans, setting the charge force to one would make it like someone was getting hit by a never ending tazer. And using boson darts only made it more intense.

Besides, Dredge wasn't human was he.

"You wanna say that again. This time to my Face or Gun!" Derek yelled back to the dragon. Dredge immediately stopped and turned around. "Unless your… Chicken."

It didn't take long before the earth dragon shifted completely around and started charging at the Ghostbuster. Spyro and Cynder both step forward but Derek weaved by them. Aiming his thrower at the running drake; Jumping in the air Dredge pulls out his claws as he falls to the ground over the human. Right before he could touch him Derek fires the secondary trigger.

 _ **Ch-ooooooooommmmmmm**_

The boson sends Dredge flying across the street. He sails past several spectators as the audible sound of a crash fill the air. Ivy and Bog both made a run for it, preparing their own attacks. Quickly switching the modes he turns to Stasis Stream, firing the blue/black beam at the ground. Their claws and feet both come into contact as the crystal like statue climbed over their bodies. Stopping just before their heads froze over.

"Hey! What is this damn stuff!?" Ivy yelled. Trying to break the stasis crystal. Derek was internally laughing his ass off at how much the three dragons fail.

"Now, if you don't mind. I have work to-" his attention was quickly drawn to the air. A large wooden object was flying through the air at them. Increasing the force Derek sends strips of dark matter shattering the cart as pieces were sent flying behind him. Dredge came running up from the side as he dived at Derek's legs. Flipping him through the air. Spyro and Cynder watch Derek fly over the building as Dredge took flight.

"Come on!" Spyro spread his wings as he quickly flew over. The moment they did they saw Derek wrangle another cart and send it reeling back at Dredge. The dragon jumps into the air to avoid the hit but ends up trapping himself from the wood.

Switching between Proton and Stasis Derek tries to land a hard enough boson to daze the dragon. Each time Derek tried to wrangle the drake to even slam him but he would move out of range from the stream.

"Come on! A Slimer can put up a better fight than-"

" _Derek, do you have a Copy_?" Leo's voice said though the radio.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment, what is it Leo?" Derek said back as he fired the stasis stream again. Dredge smashed his fists down a slab of rock shot up. Blocking the beam for making contact.

 _"Im picking up three PKE signatures in your area. You got a visual? "_

"AHHHH!" someone yelled. The entire street jumped in panic as dragons and moles all ran in different directions. Dashing into stores to hide. On cue three entities did appear. One looked like oversized, red and black Slimer. The other two held similarities to Cluster Ghosts, or Twins but with the color form of a Black Phantom. (Black Slime Ghost)

"Yes, yes I do have a visual." he said taking a moment to vent the pack. Turning his attention to the entities he switches of the dark matter generator to get full power to the proton stream. The beam takes a direct hit on the slimer type ghost.

It howls away as the beam did its job. He was capable of holding all three close together but we the level of so much use already the heat bars on the gun and pack were reaching the top. Taking a chance he finishes with a Boson Dart that stuns them for a brief moment. The pack opens its cyclotron as the cores vented put in steam. Once it popped closed again and restarted Derek took aim again. Before he could fire a full on capture stream a large stone came flying by. Hitting the gun hard enough to make Derek fire at the ground.

"We ain't finished yet, freak!" Dredge yelled out. Jumping in front of the 'buster. Derek watches as the ghosts split up. The Clusters headed away from him while the slimer flew down to him. Firing again he tries to avoid Dredge but the ghost flies past the shot. Dredge didn't have time to react before the entity quickly dived into him. His body shakes violently as a white hue covered him.

It didn't take a scientist or priest to know it was a Class 2 Possession. Ghosts using a living form to manifest energy and deal direct physical damage. Dredge looked back at Derek with pitch black eyes. To him it wasn't right. Possession like this would have a bright white, red, or even at times pink.

"Derek- WOAH!" Spyro barely dodges a bolt of energy as the two other dragons, Ivy and Bog, charged at him. The purple dragon swiftly jumped into the air to avoid a head on crash.

"Spyro! They're Possessed!" The dragon's eyes widened as Dredge flew at him. Not jumping or flapping his wing but hovering over. He tries clawing at Spyro's head but the purple dragon kept his distance. Derek was strangely surprised at this. The ghost that possessed them seemed to completely forget about him. And instead focus on just Spyro.

"Keep them still!" Derek yells as he switched to The Compressor on the slime blower. The compressor was the main switch the gun used when using the blower's third and fourth fires, Slime Mines and an Air Blast.

"No problem!" He yelled. Nearly missing a slab of rock that flew by. Derek quickly holds down the third fire as a slime ball slowly began to form at the tip of the blower. Growing from a baseball, to a basketball to a huge medicine ball. The mine stopped building when it reached this point. If he let go of the trigger it would send the mine flying at whatever it was aimed at.

All three of them were standing in front of Spyro as he let out a small burst of flames. Taking aim at Dredge's feet he lets the trigger go. The mine flies across the distance in moments as it explodes at the dragon's feet. Both Dredge, Ivy and Bog are blanket by the goo as they collapsed to the ground. The action is quickly followed by the three ghosts flying out. All three in a dazed state of just floating.

Unhooking the Pressure trap that hanged lower he tosses the box over to the ghosts. Unlike the Sabar or auto traps, Pressure traps rely on a foot pedal to be activated. Once open any ghost above it will get sucked in. Stepping on the activator the doors flip open as each ghost is pulled in at once.

(The trap design is basically the RGB trap but black. Air Blast is really what the name says. Like the flamethrower in Team Fortress 2.)

The three ghosts quickly fall into the trap as a flash of light indicates a successful capture. Walking over to the trap Derek vents his pack and reclips his gun.

"And Strike three you're all out!" Picking up the trap by the cord he wraps the foot pedal around the base of the handle. The only downside to using Pressure Traps is that once an entity is inside it can't be used or even charged. Clipping back on his belt he looked around to see the crowds of dragons and moles start coming out of the buildings most of them wided eyed at what just happened.

"So that's what being possessed by a ghost looks like? Damn." Spyro glanced back to the slimed trio. They moved slightly at times as the slime slowly dissolved away. But in the most part they were just out cold.

"That's exorcism in a nutshell. Let alone having someone's head spinning around barfing pea-" "Derek Andrew Stewart!" A female voice yelled out.

"Oh Shit…" he said as he slowly turned around. His eyes went straight to Rachel's as she slammed the driver's door on Ecto-1. "Umm. Hey… Rachel, what are you doing here…?" He sheepishly asked.

"Investigating a light show involving dragons and a guy with a particle thrower. You need to stop letting things like that from getting to you." Derek hung his head at what she meant. Ever since a curtain 'event' that changed everything he would be more focused on ghostbusting than living his life. Walking over to him she wrapped her arms around him. Bring each other closer. He did the same with her as he let out a heavy sigh.

"Come on, Let's head back. Leo's waiting and the others are on their way bacl." Grinning he followed her back to the car. As he headed to the back Rachel thought about the dragons.

"You guys wanna ride back?" She looked over to the two dragons. Looking at each for a moment Spyro and Cynder both nodded.

"Sure!" Cynder happily said as the ran up to Ecto-1. Opening the passenger door to the back seats the two pile inside. Surprisingly it was much roomier than they thought but their horns did press against the roof. Looking all over they were surprised to see all of the different gadgets. Looking back they watched as Derek placed his pack on the gurney that held Rachel's pack. Sliding the unit inside and closing the door Derek walks around the side to the passage front seat, sliding inside as Rachel flipped on the siren. Because no one here ever saw a vehicle here, it was the only real way to have a clear path.

"Hey Derek." Cynder asked. Leaning into his right ear.

"Hmm?" He looked back to her.

"Thanks for that back there, with Dredge."

"No problem Cynder." he turned back to the windshield. Cynder leaned back in the seat as a small smile grew over her face.

* * *

This was originally meant to be a history chapter talking about the Ghostbusters history and them learning about Malefor's, the War, more of Spyro's abilities and even hear alittle about Cynder's more explaining next chapter. But instead I made it to where it tells about another PGB story crossover that happened before this story itself.

(Protonix Ghostbusters: Ghost Lord, not yet out.)

This also showed more of Derek's personality some and how he deals with different situations. Despite this being a 'Ghostbusters' story where everyone gets their time in the spotlight, Derek, Rachel and Leo are the only main characters of the Protonix universe. Since the original story it was only Derek but after the entire team was formed did the two others become part of the Originals.


	9. Dream of Nightmares

Chapter 9: Dream of Nightmares

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

This chapter will focus more (again) on the history. How the PGB feel towards the dragons views of the situation. And more. Most of this stuff is gathered from wiki and other stories.

Also introduction of Flame and Ember. Big whoop.

* * *

The trip back to the temple was mostly uneventful. Inside Ecto-1 no one has said a single word. Spyro and Cynder were still looking around with the different tech while Derek just stared out the tinted window. Rachel would glance over to him in the mirror but stayed focused on driving. The drive was short as they managed to hop onto the main road that lead straight to the temple.

Pulling up to the gates the two moles that stood there guarding just simply pushed the door open for them. Slowly driving through they head over to Ecto-7. Waiting there was Ecto 2 but Ecto 4 was still missing. Derek figured the two were still out on patrol and is taking some time to get back. Parking beside the truck the car let out a gush of steam from the tailpipe as it powers down.

(All the PGB vehicles are nuclear. Running on large scale cyclotrons. Steam coming from the engine or tailpipe is just like exhaust from a normal car.)

"You coming?" Rachel asked sliding out if the chair. Derek looked over before opening his door.

"In a bit. Gotta dump the newbies." Walking around he opens the side door to let the dragons hop out. Walking back around he opens the rear door and grabs the loaded Pressure Trap. Heading over he rushed into the trailer to the containment room. Dumping its contents he places the trap into a charger coupling unit.

(Because some traps do need charging.)

Taking one glance at the control unit he switches to the containment display. On it showed different readings about the PCU from power, stability and amount of entities inside. When he saw the intake was just pinching 70% he felt something in the back of his head. True that if the Central Containment Unit would do unbelievable amounts of damage but with the PCU it would be just like in the movie. Derek knew that when the unit was full, if he could remember the last time it ever was, that the only way to reduce eruption was to constantly vent out excess power. Heading back out he dashed up the steps. Standing there Rachel was patiently waiting.

"So where to?" He asked as they started off towards their destination.

"Leo's gathering everyone in the temple's library. Says he found something important that we all should know about." Rachel answered.

"Where did Spyro and Cynder go?" Derek looked around the area.

"They went ahead of while you were in the trailer. They're probably in the library by now. So how was your second day in a new world?" Rachel said as they navigated the corradors.

"Well, the city itself wasn't surprisingly that different compared to Manhattan. The cultural difference is everywhere and the people act slightly nicer compared to when we first took to the streets. You?"

"When you guys first left to go gem hunting we decided to restock our food supplies. Some of this stuff will last longer than the normal stuff we buy."

"Maybe we should make our payment out of fruit." Derek joked. Receiving a soft hit to his right arm.

"Very funny. But I did that and ended up chasing Ben around the courtyard like Tom and Jerry before I went to more. Then you guys showed up, the wave hit and after you left I went exploring myself. I wanted to walk but Leo said I should either take your bike or Ecto-1. Got the call to get you and…" She trailed off. Derek already knowing where it was going.

"And then there's Sparx…"

"The flying glow stick?" He said in annoyance. "What's he been doing?"

"God where do I being… First he comes out asking where Spyro and the 'she-demon' are. Proceeds to fly all over the trailer messing with knobs. And for the most part. When I went to get you he almost opened the containment grid."

Derek facepalmed by the last reason. He had only been with the dragonfly for not even a day and already he was tired of him. The most being from the dinner last night where he would interrupt and made one of them explain something down to the simplest of ways.

"Wanna know something? Sparx and Spyro are actually brothers because when Spyro was born Sparx's mother took him in."

Rachel turned to him with her mouth. She instantly thought about how Spyro could of gone through so much. She didn't know how olf Spyro was but Rachel already started praying. Walking up to the main door Rachel looked back to him. "May God have mercy on Spyro's soul for the rest of his life."

Opening the giant doors the room shifted into a large hall with towering shelves of books. Jack was at one side with Volteer talking of a topic while Terrador and Cyril sat at the wayback next to a giant fire place.

Leo was running from one location to another. He was even laughing at the variety of books and scrolls. Once again letting his other side show.

"Look at this place! I could take months taking inventory of these books."

"You live in the Public Library on your off days, Leo. Even then you're working on something." Derek walked past Rachel. Walking towards the center table that had dozens of books and scrolls spread across with some equipment.

"So, you wanted us all here for… why?" Mike asked. Sitting back in. One of the many couches. The others all laid about as the guardians themselves and the the legends sat in front of the fire.

"Because we all need a history lesson on what we're possibly up against." Leo answered as he sat down in one of the empty couches.

"Indeed. Leo brought to our attention that you all know quite a bit information when it comes to dark powers. And this could potentially shed us some light on a theory. "

Derek walked over to the sitting area as he took a seat beside Leo. "What theory?"

"That the Black Slime problem here has something to do with Malefor himself." Volteer responded.

Leo reached back behind him to pull out his pke meter. "And plus this could give us a little more about this planet's history. Because the readings I've gotten are just as strong as the time of the parade."

Derek cupped his hands together before readjusting himself. "Alright, so story time." He looked up to the dragons. Terrador was the first to clear his throat as he too adjusted into a comfortable spot.

"About thousand years ago, our world was like your average place in the the universe. It had its dark days and it's good days. But the darkest of it all a purple dragon came to power.

You see, true dragons come in a series of colors but pure purple is one of the most rarest of them all. One is born every 10 generations and is destined to lead the fate of all during their time. Controlling each of the 4 elements. Malefor on the other hand, sought out to prevent this from happening. He would lock himself away at a young age reading and learning about dark magic. Convexity was one.

At first he had simple control. But as he learned more and more he started to become more… insane. He was capable of gathering thousands of followers in the form of several monsters and a ape army that ran under the control of his top general.

When the war first broke out the dragon race was seen as a unstoppable force. Several guardians of different elements and even our predesessors battled against his forces. It was not until the most powerful of dragons were capable of sealing him away in a deep prision. He was placed dormant for nearly one thousand years. But unfortunately, he was awakened once again…"

"Well that was a shitty move." Roger said. This made the guardians swiftly turn to him, flabbergasted. "In both folklore, fictional stories, self accounts, hell even the Bible itself shows that whenever something is put to sleep. It's bound one day to wake up again."

All the guys shook their heads in agreement. This had happened one a few out of country trips that involved a demon or ancient spirit rising again. One time in Egypt they fought a real life mummy that tried t use Rachel as a human sacrifice.

"So this Malefor was like him?" Danny asked. Turning several heads over to Spyro. The dragon felt like the team would drag him out and throw him into a trap.

"No. Unlike Spyro, Malefor didn't control his power so quickly at such a young age. Because of this it grew like a disease that could never be healed." Cyril's words did put the busters as easy for a little. But the fact still stood.

"So he was like Shandor, in a way." Derek added. "Compare both of them. Shandor was someone that tried to find a way to help the human race but saw it was to far beyond saving and went made to make the Cult of is like the dragon form of him. He was interested in dark forces. Became obsessed with controlling over them and wanted to find away to redo the world." The guardians were slightly drawn back at the comparison to Shandor.

"But continue." Terrador put the thought to the side.

"Yes, well, continuing on after Malefor's imprisonment the apes continued to fight against the armies of Avalar until most of their forces had all but been dealt with. But it wasn't until a few years ago that did their forces started to regain momentum. The original Temple that we resided in was raided by the ape general Gaul. The place was a secured fortress meant to protect the many eggs that we guarded during the time. The raid unfortunately had lead to the destruction of every single egg. All except two."

"Spyro and Cynder." Derek added in. Surprising both parties. "What? Did you think I would just walk around a strange city with two dragons and not get to know something."

"* _clears throat*_ Yes they were. One was taken by Ignitus while the other was taken during the raid. The one that Ignitus had hoped the egg that was to carry the next purple dragon would be safer away from any possible threat. We were right but something else came into sight.

Several years after the raid… the war had become even bloodier than ever. A dark spirit would soar through the skies and rain down hell upon anyone they saw a threat to their master. This, Creature resembles the creatures you've encountered here already."

"Screechers?" Rachel asked. Receiving a nod from the earth dragon.

"But unlike these screeches of today, this being was much more power. Controlling the Dark elements. It went by two names as well. The most being called the Terror of the Skies."

"And the other?" Derek asked.

He didn't say the answer straight away. Terrador didn't know if he should tell them or risk going heavy damage. Glancing over to the one he was talking about they gave a slow but quick nod.

"Cynder." He replied.

The name hit each of the Ghostbusters like a brick wall. Even the brothers who was half asleep shot their eyes open.

"Well… that must of been some dark times." Leo said. Cynder just held her head in shame and regret. She waited for what the eight would say bow knowing the truth. But nothing was said. She looked up to each one, the same face they had during the entire time stayed but with the sign of shock and sorrow.

"If we were there at that time. All we would have to do was just slime you for a minute or two and Bam! Your good as new." Mike joked.

Derek leaned forward to where is attention was directly to the dragoness. "We're not gonna judge you for your actions, Cynder. We've seen possession in people where they've tried to even start World War 3. But we managed to help them out if a living hell. You basically went through the samething. You had no control over a force that you were being manipulated by. So we won't hold anything against you."

Cynder was taken back by Derek's words. She didn't know if she would break down in tears or run over and hug him.

"T-Thank you." She said. Holding back the waterworks.

"It was hard times for all. But when Spyro appeared things drastically changed. But the inevitable happened. Gaul's forces had awaken the dark master. And during the time… we had almost lost them." Glancing over to Spyro and Cynder the team was on edge to where this was going.

"For three years no one knew where they had gone."

Spyro spook up. "When we first fought Malefor in the mountains, the whole place was coming down on us. I used my power to encase us in crystal to protect us. Though I didn't think it would be three years till we got out."

"And during those three years Malefor had over taken the original Temple as a sign of his dominance. Most of what was left of the dragons gathered here in Warfang. But after Spyro and Cynder's return, Malefor brought forth a living form of death. The Destroyer."

"Like a destructor form?" Derek thought out loud.

"A what-" "A Destructor Form is a physical embodiment of a god that takes the form of a chosen creature. Gozer the gozarian took the form of a 150 foot tall Marshmallow man. True it was less dangerous than a blood thirsty demon it still had problems. Shandor himself was human like us but became a demonic beast of molten rock and fire." Derek explained.

"No. Despite its power, Malefor was controlling it to his will."

He looks over to the two dragons. "Until you guys stopped it." they nod.

"Yeah. But that wasn't the end if it."

"Indeed. It wasn't until then did we learned about his intentions did we truly realize the grave of the situation. After the attack Warfang was doing its best to recover while they journeyed to the core with Ignitus who… sacrificed himself for their pass through the Belt.

But in the end, Malefor was dragged into the heart of the Well of Souls. Spyro had prevented global destruction. We that it was finally over. For some time after there was no sign of him or his army.

That was what we had thought. But because of this rapid increase in paranormal activity and the discovery of this Black Slime, we fear that he could be potentially rising again. And this team, we truly won't be able to stop him."

When he finally finished the right humans didn't say anything afterwards. Until Derek was the first to stand from his seat. "People,huddle." he said as he headed to the main table. Everyone got up from their seats as they followed him.

"Alright… Leo what do you think?"

Leo was already on his phone typing away. "If what they say about Malefor is true and that his source of power was pure convexity, then the need to find and either capture or eliminate him as soon as possible just went up 700%"

"You think this could be another Shandor or Infestation?" Mike asked. Everyone turned to Leo for an answer. If anyone knew it would be him. But Leo said nothing. He didn't look up from his phone, his mood not changing. This brought a slight chill to everyone. Whenever Leo fell silent like this it would only mean bad things.

"If… It does come to either case… make sure your cross stream relays are turned off." His voice was low. Everyone hung their heads slightly as

"Come on. We're gonna need to be at the top of our game and be prepared." Derek said heading towards the door. Not saying anything to the dragons as the team left.

"Where they going? There's still much to discuss." Volteer said as he set another stack of books on the table.

"Was it something we said?" Terrador wondered why the team did it. Spyro was a little concerned about what they did say. Without saying another word he bolted to the door.

"Spyro!" Cynder yelled out as she ran to catch up with the dragon. Spyro on the other hand was already dashing another corridor.

' _How do they move so fast?"_ He thought. Cornering hard he head down the main path that linked everything to the temple. Half way down he could see the multicolored suits the team wore.

"Guys!" he called out. The echo of his voice through the hallway everyone jump. Derek looked behind to see the lure dragon runnig to him.

"NOPE!" he jumps behind Roger as Spyro slowed down to a jog. Cynder rounded the corner hard and headed for them. When they did stop Derek step out from behind the pilot.

"You guys need something?" He asked as the two caught their breaths. Taking in a few deep ones they look back to the team.

Spyro was the first to ask. "Where are you guys in a rush to? You just up and left without telling any of us."

"One word, Infestation." Derek said in a low tone. The same like how a war veteran would remember a grave day.

"Of what? Ghosts?" Cynder asked.

"Worse. Much, much worse-

"SPYRO!" A female voice yelled out. The sound of claws scraping against the marble floor got louder as a pink and yellow mass came racing at the group.

"Oh No... Ember?!" Spyro scrambled to get his footing as he ran behind Derek. The dragon jumped into the air with her front claws held out with her eyes closed. Leveled to the 'buster's head.

"Not again…" Derek said as the dragon flew right into him. Spyro dashed away from being crushed by the protonix pack as Derek hit the floor. But what caught off everyone was what the dragon was doing. She planted wet kisses all over Derek's face. He struggled to get up but the dragon pressed him back. It wasn't until Spyro said her name did she stop.

"Ember." The pink dragon looked up. Seeing Spyro stand beside Rachel and Cynder. Looking back down she saw the mess she has done to the human's face.

"Oh My Ancestors!" She practically jumped off his chest. Ember skidded to the side before stopping in front of Rachel. Who in turn had the pure look of anger while both Mike and Jack help Derek back to his feet.

"You Okay?" Jack asked.

"..."

"Derek?"

"..." He didn't say a word. Mike waved his hand in front of him till his eyes fluttered for a second.

"Slimed. I like being slimed by a ghost out to kill me more than this…" Wiping off the saliva off his face he turned around to see Ember sitting beside Rachel. A deep blush came from her cheeks as she looked the other way.

"Hehe… sorry about that." She said looking up to him. For a moment she paused. Looking straight into his eyes she felt something, strange. "I'm-"

"Ember!, there you are-" Another voice yelled from down the help. A deep orange and yellowish orange dragon came passing in. But he stopped mid sentence as he looked at the 8 humans.

"Oh My Gosh… you're the Ghostbusters!" he ran straight to Leo first. Looking over his suit and gear. Leo just looked done in surprise at the way the fire dragon was acting. Flame dashed between.

"You... know about us…?" Leo asked backing away slightly.

"Flame. The names Flame. But yeah! Practically everyone in Warfang are talking how you," Pointing at Derek. "Single-handedly beat down Dredge and his goons in the market!" All eyes slowly turned to Derek, save for Rachel and the two dragons, with the look of shock.

"Derek you didn't…" Leo was the first to say.

"Yes I know that I even broke my own rule about using protonic equipment on living people but I had a good reason to." He didn't want to go into detail but Cynder knew exactly what he was talking about. "Plus I did find out something we could definitely use in situations."

"And that is?" Leo crossed his arms with a raised brow.

"That we can use Stassis and Proton Streams on dragons with risking injury. Just keep it on low intensity." Derek answered. Using protonic equipment on people was one of the biggest Do Not rules the Ghostbusters ran on. Under 'Do Not Cross the Streams with Deactivated Relays' it prohibited the use of harming others unless driven to the most dire of times. Mike was usually the one to heavily reinforce these rules or what he called 'Laws of Busting'.

"So that's what was happening when I called you?" The scientist asked.

"Strangely enough it was right where I was at the time." Derek pointed out.

"Well, it's almost nine, I suggest you all get some sleep. We're gonna need it for what is to come. I'll be in the library researching any I can find about Malefor." Leo headed down the hall back to the library with Jack following behind. Without saying another word the others broke off and head to their rooms.

"I guess I'll see you later. Maybe a few books can help." Derek started walking away from Rachel as he made sure to stay within view of the other two.

"See you later!" Rachel yelled out as he disappeared behind the corner. Now leaving the Medic and dragons.

"So…" Rachel looked around. Not knowing what to really do. "You are you guys?"

 _Later That Night..._

 _12: 20 Am_

All around the city activity was dead quiet. Barely anyone could be seen walking around the streets with homes and businesses darkened. In the Library Derek, Jack and Leo all sat at the same table for the past several hours. Jack had already fallen asleep halfway into a book about the different cultures of the world. Leo was showing signs of tiredness as he struggled to keep his eyes open while Derek sat comfy in a large couch next to the fire. His jumpsuit laid beside him while he continued to read in his black shirt and jeans. He was almost done reading through a story that revolved around the mid to late years of the war.

"Hey Derek…" Leo groan. Sluggishly walking over to the leader. "I'm gonna call it. See you *yawn* tomorrow…"

"Have a good night Leo. Try not to blow anything up." Derek said.

"Yarr harr harr, everyone's Bill freakin Murray." Chuckling he listened as the distinct sound of the doors opening and closing. Looking back he saw that Jack and all of the equipment was gone. Leaving neatly stacked books and rolled up scrolls on the table.

'How the hell does he do that?' Derek thought at how Leo could do something so fast a ghost would have terrible. Looking back down at his watch the digits had turned to 12:25. Setting the boom beside him he opted between getting up or just resting here. His mind said room but his body was already asleep. Slowly his eyes closed up as the only thing left to hear was his light breathing and the crackling fire.

 _Else Where._

In the living quarters of the building. Everyone was sound asleep. A few moles would walk down the halls patrolling. In the dragon's room, neither Spyro or Cynder were asleep. Both just sat around their room. Wondering about today.

"Well. Today was… interesting." Spyro thought. Cynder nodded.

"Yep. Though it was fun watching Derek kick Dredge's ass." She chuckled. Cynder was still a little surprised on how Derek acted about what Dredge said to her. If she ever saw a human wearing a laser pack get angry, she now does. But that alone wasn't what are was thinking about. How he charged out of the forest, destroyed a monster and capture dozens of ghosts single-handed without breaking a sweat.

"Hey Spyro, I'm gonna head out for a little." She received a groan from the dragon. Spyro had all but finally fallen asleep. Rolling her eyes she jumped from the bed and head towards the door. Opening it she let her eyes adjust to the dim light.

The temple had magic enhanced torches that lite up the dark halls at night but wasn't bright enough to cover everything. Making her way around Cynder wondered how much things have changed. The way the temple and school was set up that one half held the living quarters, the central building for activities and the other for classes and the training hall. So going from one place to another was fairly easy. Cynder managed to practically walk through quarters and into the main position of the temple. But something felt, off to her. Looking around she tried to feel for what it was. It didn't take long to find out what was drawing her in.

The door to the library was just cracked enough to let the light inside leak out into the Hall. Utilizing her shadow she merges into the floor. Snaking her way past the door and into the room. The library was almost completely dark but the fire still provided enough to see.

Looking over to the seating area she could see Derek's head just above the couch arm rest with a book over his head. Walking over slow enough she crosses the room over to him.

Stepping around the couch she carefully removed the book of his head. Trying not to startle him, she just looked over him. She could see it on his face. Someone who has seen and done things others could never fully experience. Cynder thought for a moment about what was happening. Looking back about their conversation 3 nights ago. Her curiosity was getting the better of her more than it should.

" _Thanks Derek…_ " she whispered.. She placing her claw on his forehead.

' _Mmmmm_ …'

Cynder instantly froze up and quickly removed her claw. Derek toss and turned a little until he started mumbling.

 _"… cross the… streams… *snort*"_

Cynder didn't know what to make of his words. 'Cross the streams? What does that mean?' She thought. She wanted to know a little but sleep was rapidly approaching her. Sighing she turns back towards the empty seat that was opposite to his. True it was meant for things like moles, cheetahs and other races it was big enough to lay in. Jumping up she pushed herself against the cushion. Lying a suitable spot she let her eyes slowly fall.

* * *

But she opens them again. A strong stench hit her like a punch as she looked around her surroundings. She wasn't in the library. She was pretty sure she wasn't in the temple or Warfang. Tall, grey structures towered over her as they lead up into a darkened sky.

* _Groan_ *

"Spyro?" She asked. Spinning around to see him standing up.

"Where are we…" he looked around. Cynder didn't have an answer. The sounds of explosions, sirens and screams filled the air around them. Running to the opening of the alley they dashed out into the street. The horror around them was beyond what they could take in.

Devastation was everywhere. Multi-story skyscrapers were burning like towering torches. Large parts of the skyline lied in the streets around them.

'BOOM'

Turning around the looked down the street to see a massive building collapse. It was the Chrysler Building, one of New York's most iconic skyscrapers, was smashing down the street. Screams of people running the falling mass tried out running the plume but were overtaken by debris. Bodies were sent flying in all directions. The sight of death in this form quickly brought Cynder to tears. It reminded her so much of the past.

 _ **'CH-OOOOOOMMMMMM** '_

A massive ball of light flies past them. Watching as they made a direct hit on a slime monster. The two looked back in the direction of its source to see a human running towards them.

"Derek!" She yelled. Running as fast as she could to help. But to her he didn't get closer. Nor was she moving. Derek struggled against the monster as he unleashed two particle streams across its face. He was standing in front of large hole in a building across the street with several other humans running out.

The face of the entire building crumbs to the ground as Derek, with the pack's increased abilities, literally out ran the damage. The monster however was not so quick as it was crushed. The rumble leaked streams of Black Slime.

Derek stopped just before the intersection. Catching what breath he could.

"LOOK OUT!" A man yelled. Before he could react Derek is sent flying. The road had buckled out with a fountain of slime. A monster quickly rose out of the newly formed hole as it charged Derek. The hit had sent him flying on to the roof of a bus that had smashed into a nearby store. The monster ran at him full speed, he quickly climbed off as the monster Impacted the side. Sending the vehicle straight through the building. Derek quickly got to his feet as he tried to put some distance between him and the creature.

Derek fired a dual proton stream with a constant jet of slime. The monster was fighting as hard as it could against the mixture as it started to walk back. Derek went to switch modes but didn't see the large rock come flying at his right.

It smashes directly into him, cutting the beams off as he hit the ground. His health bars were barely showing green as he tried to stand. Using his gun as a support.

The monster slowly made their way towards the fallen Ghostbuster, the look on their faces showed that of one to kill. Spyro quickly tried building up a lightning 'Fury' attack, launching it between both monsters. But to his dismay neither of them were affected. Not even the ground where it should've cratered showed.

Cynder tries her own attack. Using both her Wind and Poison elements to create a mist of acid. Just like Spyro, her results were the same. They both stood there in complete worry. Derek was crawling on his hands and knees with blood dripping from his side and head.

But he stopped. Looking head as a familiar 'Reeee' that sounded from the same vehicles the Protonix used became louder. It was another Ecto. This one looked like the Ecto-1 but instead had a red back half with a completely different roof rack. The body itself was more boxy.(For better terms, Ghostbusters 2016 Ecto 1.) Rolling up to his side.

Each door flew open as four people stepped out. They were dressed in a basic grey jumpsuit but with orange striping. Firing 4 proton streams with Derek's as they decimate both monsters. The driver went over to Derek's side to help him up.

"Get everyone to Central Park, Now!" Derek yelled as they all jumped back into the car. Driving in reverse before making a hard turn down another street. Derek held his side, grunting every step he took. He slowly made his way to Ecto-X1 that was lying against a destroyed wall. Flipping the bike back up he hooks his thrower back on his pack and guns down the messy street. Not wanting to lose him the dragons quickly spread their wings and take to the air.

Keeping Derek in their sight the two couldn't believe what they saw flying past. Crowds of human beings running for their lives down clogged roads. A Ghostbuster or Ecto behind them firing away at monsters. Bodies laid all over roads, some vehicles not caring if they ran them over to try to run.

Spyro was completely shocked. He never say this type of fight. Compared to his fight with Malefor it was like a street brawl. But this, this was what the spitting image of War looked like.

They managed to keep up with him as long as they could till a large building exploded at its side. Glass and metal shards were sent flying down as the entire upper half started falling down. Smashing into the streets below. The collapse covered the area in a huge dust cloud. The dragons flew higher up to avoid getting caught inside but quickly realize they lost Derek.

It wasn't the only thing they realized at that moment. The sun and sky were getting further away. The sky itself was a deep green that expanded down high up to the far edges of the city. Outside water and debris piled on top of it.

Manhattan was sinking. Slime from further away was flooding into the streets. Like how the Titanic slowly sank the slime rapidly rose. Vehicles, bodies, debris and small buildings were being devoured around them. Skyscrapers that had lights inside quickly go dark. Some collapsing like sticks in a river.

"Come on!" Spyro quickly flew in the other direction of the flow. Cynder twisted around as she tried to stay by his side. The dragons, with all their strength flew towards a pillar of blue light that shot out from the ground and into the sky. Feeding power in the barrier that prevent things from raining down. They flew high over the buildings to prevent losing sight or possibly getting trapped. Giving them a much clearer view of the waste land New York City was becoming.

"Look!" Cynder shouted, pointing towards the park.

A tower of orange and pink light blew out from the clearing. Flying closer Cynder could see multiple Ectos and strange green and brown vehicles all racing inside the area. At the center was a light show. 30 proton streams erupted from the ground, shooting a rain of dirt, concrete and slime.

It was them, All 8 of them, the Protonix Ghostbusters. But around them stood others. All circled around a demonic creature. (The creature is mostly based on the character in the new GB2016 film seen as in Toy Fair with Rowan.) The teams fired a storm of energy at the monster. It tried fighting the combined powers but was caught in the middle. Slowly the teams got closer to each other. Their streams becoming closer to one another.

"CROSS THE STREAMS!" Derek's voice yelled out over the noise. It was loud enough that both dragons heard it line they were standing right beside him. Instantly dozens of proton streams Impacted the creature. The massive force made it spaze out. Looking around the two watched as Ghostbusters all around them brought their guns together in groups. The beams overlapping each other as they merged into a much larger, greenish light. The Protonix were still standing ahead of everyone. First Derek and his team crossed, then it was like dominoes as the others did.

Flashes of light erupted from the contact point on the creature. The dragons only had seconds before they were engulfed. The Ghostbusters were all thrown back as the sky rapidly changed. The creature was growing in size like a balloon ready to pop. But when it did, nothing was left.

There was no city. No sky, ground, buildings. No sign of the hundreds of Ghostbusters that were around them.

"Guys…?" Cynder asked. Her eyes struggled as the light slowly faded. Spyro was close to her side with his claws over his eyes. Moving it aside he too tried to look around. But they didn't have to look far. The ground just a few steps away became much darker. Turning almost black, it curved and spikes out a large image.

It was the Ghostbusters same logo the Protonix used. The No-Ghost logo inside a red gear with 4 stars on the top and bottom. The red however was blasted away. Leaving what looked like rust and even missing chunks.

What caught their attention the most was what sat on the slash across the ghost and around the symbol. It was a ghost trap, leaking a red liquid from the doors like it was over flowing. The liquid started to pool at the base of the trap, covering over the symbol. What made both of them almost cry was the 8 bodies that laid around it. The Ghostbusters, their dead bodies covered in blood and slime. Their clothes were torn to pieces with their proton packs destroyed. Each one held their arms out over the symbol. Reaching out like they were trying to grab the trap.

But what truly made their blood run cold was what the blood from them and trap revealed.

At the base of the gear, just feet away from where the dragons stood, the blood curved around several spots. Like a object sat in it's way. The words it revealed were ones that if asked now, would send fear into anyone from what was seen.

 _ **'Are you Afraid?**_ '

* * *

Derek getting knocked down on his ass in one day: 3

So this was a bit of a stretch because how I wanted to show how the Ghostbusters react to the situation and the past events regarding the LoS Series. As the title said this described several events throughout the Protonix life main focus being the events of Infestation. The ending was also a test to see how dark I could make the story seem since Death will be a repeating factor and show one of the major points in the PGB universe that they will be going back to A lot.

One factor that will play during the story is amnesia based on the events either human or dragon will experience. So Spyro could see the destruction of New York with everyone dying and completely forget about. This will be a driving force for the first story arch and set up more.

The way Terrador told the history of the games was my version of a summary since I never did play the games but got inspiration from other stories.

I'm also trying to keep each chapter above 3000 words just because it would fit in enough overall flow, chapters like this was meant to be smaller but how the ending was made it a lot bigger because of the different scenes. And if you do read these (I hope to god) then you'll see that each chapter (except 2 because I lost the file to edit it…) has a second title. These Archs will help me divide up the story do I work easier. Since this thing is shaping up to be my biggest story yet. (It has more words then all my FNaF stories.)

Arch 1: The Call

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

Arch 3: Dark as Day, Black as Night

 _"Worse. Much, much worse-" "SPYRO!" "Oh No… Ember?!" ~As Worse as it Could Get._


	10. Training with Nukes

Chapter 10: Training with Nukes

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _Morning_

Cynder jolted up from her sleep, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her bearings. Looking to her side she saw Spyro wide awake. But how, she thought. She remembered falling asleep in the library. Looking at her friend she couldn't push away the fresh images.

"Spyro…" Cynder was on the verge of breaking into tears. "What just happened…?"

"I… I Don't Know…" He nearly choked on his words. What did just happened? He couldn't believe what he witnessed. The death, destruction, it felt like he just went to the time Malefor first came to power.

"Infestation." Spyro turned his head to Cynder as she said the word again. "Derek said Infestation. And that it was much worse than what we asked them." Cynder didn't know if she was right or wrong. Thinking the word Infestation would make you think a large amount of something. And right now ghosts were fitting the bill very well. Getting from the bed of pillows they each stretch their limbs before heading out.

They both still thought about how the Ghostbusters were able to handle such a task at hand. But watching Derek fight like that made them wonder how someone can deal with the odds so stacked against him. Caught up in their thoughts they had not fully realized they had covered most of the distance and were now outside the dining hall doors. Walking inside they saw all three guardians sitting at the head of the table. Cyril noticed them and casts them a glance.

"Spyro, Cynder." Cyril bluntly said. Not taking his eyes off the food in front of him. Spyro was about to ask what was wrong but stopped when he say their eyes. They were blood shot. The look on someone who saw something that they couldn't look away from.

"You saw it too. Didn't you?" Terrador slowly nodded. Not saying a single word. Looking at the others they too gave a nod. The sound of the doors opening quickly made the dragons look behind them. The team slowly made their way inside. Hunched over like they were zombified with a slow dragging walk. One by one the eight took their respective seats.

"Good Morning everyone, Have a good sleep?" Cyril said trying to lighten the mood. But as he said that all of the Ghostbusters fell onto the table. Smacking into plates or the wood itself.

"I swear it feels like something just… died in us." Derek groan. He didn't know what happened. It felt like they all had run a marathon across the entire length of North and South America up and down. Spyro looked over to the others who traded concerned looks. Just as they were thinking two moles pushing carts came in. Lying mugs for the humans as they got cups of nice, hot coffee. The smell was enough to each buster raise their heads.

"Thank God for Coffee…" Leo swung his cup back in a deep gulp. The others followed in suit. Derek was the last to be served. As the mole poured his drink he looked over to him he pointed at the pot.

"Could you leave that here?" The Mole shrugged as he left the pot to leave. Unscrewing the top lid he stood from his seat, brought the jug to his lips and drank. At first they thought it would of been one or two gulps, but he didn't stop.

"Uh... Derek?" Cynder said as he kept going until the jug was straight up. Making sure to get every drop he sets the container back down on the table. Sighing deeply as he sat back down with a satisfied grin.

"Isn't that hot?" Spyro asked. Derek just shook his head.

"Extremely." he calmly said licking his lips. Reaching over he grabbed his original cup, this time taking a small sip.

"You know that much coffee isn't good for you." Rachel looked down at her mug then back to him.

"Coffee is the fuel of the Gods." He said raising his cup. "If they intended it to be drunk by man then by God I'll gladly do so." lowering the mug down he swings back the cup. Emptying it in three gulps. Rachel just sighed as she put her coffee down. Pinching the bridge of her nose.

For a few minutes the others dug into the food. The dragons slowly ate. Not knowing if they should ask about the events in their dreams.

"So…" Terrador started. "Do you guys find anything of interest?" He asked.

Derek Explained. "Me, Leo and Jack were able to find more about Malefor's past. Along with possible aspects that could help determine this rise in paranormal activity."

"And what did you find?" Volteer leaned over. Acting like he need to be closer to hear crystal clear.

Taking a sip of his drink Leo begins. "What we are experiencing is something that would be equivalent to-" "AAAHHHHH!" Derek jumped from his seat.

Holding his throat he bolted out the door. Everyone was dumbfounded for amount before Roger, Rachel and Jack ran after him. Volteer got up from his seat as he and Spyro followed closely. Derek was running as fast as his legs could, looking for anything to stop the burning. But as a result of his screams this made several dragons pop out of their rooms as they watched the human run pasted. Quickly followed by the group.

Derek didn't know how far he ran but soon came up to the main hall. In the center was a set of four fountains that sprayed crystal clear water. Derek instantly ran to the nearest one, falls on his knees and dives his head into the water. Several dragons watched as the group slid into the room. Roger and Jack instantly grab hold of Derek's jumpsuit, pulling his soaked head out as he spit out a small stream of water.

"He's out cold." Shaking him some but with no effect. Jack tried waving his hand really fast in front of his face but Derek still didn't move.

"Derek… Derek!" Rachel yelled giving him a hard slap across his face, but it didn't work. Sighing she leans down to him, pressing her lips on his with her hand wrapped around his shoulder. Derek's eyes squint for a moment before they shot open.

"WOAH! My face hurts…" Rubbing his cheek Derek looked around to see the gathering crowd. Roger and Jack were both looking away in slight embarrassment. Spyro looked away to give them the moment while Volteer, being Volteer, just watched. He had several, okay, Many questions he wanted to ask but so far missed the chance last night. After shaking his head dry and taking a pain killer that Rachel had strangely stuffed in her leg pocket he got back to his feet. Reaching down to his belt he pulled out his hand held.

"Leo." he said. Volteer narrowed his eyes at the device. He saw them use it periodically and wondered it's use. Hearing some elses voice sudden coming from a tiny box just added to his curiosity.

" _Derek, Enjoy your morning run?"_

"Very funny. Get everyone outside and ready."

" _Copy that."_

Spyro was a little curious as to what they were up to. "Where are you guys going?"

"In light of Terrador's story of Malefor, we know there's more missing from the story. And if it is him that we're dealing with, and he has the power of convexity at his disposal, we need to be at the top of our game. Physical, Mental and Equipped." Derek responded. The four head towards the main door before Spyro stopped them.

"Then way not use the temple's training center? It's built to be indestructible." The team looks at each other for a moment before shrugging.

"Alrighty. Lead the way."

 _Later, the Training Hall_

"Here we are." Volteer pushed open the doors. The light quickly filled the team's vision as they walked inside. The room was massive. Like the NYC reading room in the library. But this was much more clear with larger, narrower windows. One wall had a large wrap around seating set up with a much more blank wall on the opposite side.

Some dragons were already here fighting against large wooden dummies. Over at the far wall Leo and the others were already waiting. Ecto-1 and X1 stood against the wall with the others gearing up. The presents of the team and dragons made several eyes turn towards them. Walking across the course the dragons already there watched the team set up.

"So," Terrador sits next to a set of controls. "What would you like first?"

They look at each other for moment.

"Don't worry. We're already set." Derek walks over to Ecto-1 and pulls out a large orange disk with 3 flaps that covered the top. (IDW Super Trap.) "When practicing, training new recruits or testing new equipment, we like to use live game." The dragons all stop. They didn't know if he was joking or being serious. Using ghosts like training equipment

"You can't be serious!?" Spyro shouted in protest. "Ghosts?! You're gonna unleash Ghosts!?"

"Yes and No." Derek responded. "Yes because dummies are useless against a particle thrower and don't fight back like a ghost. Plus it is a rule, which I did break, to not use protonic equipment on living things. And No, because we do this whenever we're practicing, training recruits or testing equipment." Walking around the back of Ecto-1 he pulls out the gurney that held his Protonix Pack and 3 other Proton Packs.

"And what are these?" Volteer carefully picked up a Pke Disrupter.

"Those are PPDs, Portable Pke Disrupters. There designed to cover a given area of opposed particles that ghosts can't access or get out." Roger and Danny both grab two more units, running to the far end they go to each corner. Placing the device down they look it in place and set on the foot trigger. Steadily the poles slide up into place with a small surge of power building up inside. Uncoiling a cord that ran the length of the room.

"We do this because it's much closer to the actual job. But we have much more control in the situation." Leo stated as he brought out 3 black versions of the trap. "The ghosts in this trap are your everyday type. So it has a range of entities to spawn at random."

"The trap is designed to basically at like a spawner for waves. Teams of 1 to 4 are at best since it's the standard count." Derek said strapping on his pack as he help Mike and Jack with theirs. Standing in line Derek, Ben, Jack and Mike all stood at the middle of the court."So in a way they make a cage around any spirit inside and a barrier in the out." Leo popped the driver's side passenger door. Folding the seat seat down he brings out a laptop monitor. Hooking his Pke meter to something like a power strip with the cords leading to the disrupters and trap.

Behind the car Derek was helping Roger, Danny and Jack suit up. Reaching over on the plated window he pulls of three more super traps. These ones were smaller compared to the Mega Trap Leo held the ghosts in.

(The Mega Trap is basically the same trap from the IDW Comics. The Super Traps are wireless black versions of the Extreme GB traps.)

"It's like the game of Survival. You have to survive all the waves of entities before your entire team is down. If this was real then they would be dead." Derek said walking past Spyro. He and the other 3 stood at the edge of where the court started.

"Any time, Johnson." Leo typed away at his keyboard before sending the command. The tops of each of the four poles split apart as a deformation began forming in the air. Once each of the wings was out, a small flash of light blew from the top. Now covering most of the hall was a massive purple and blue dome. Stepping through Derek was the first inside. The shield didn't do much if anything but flux when someone walked through. Once they were through they split. Derek carried the Mega Trap to the center of the room while the others placed the three traps around a equal distance. Once down they all moved to the sides as the trap opened.

"Send them out." Leo presses the Enter key as the trap lite up. The other traps all did the same including the Super Slammers. The traps all were linked into the Ecto-1's unit with X1 standing by. In any case something would go wrong the bike would move to the center of the room and deploy a Flash Storm. Something like the Tornado mode and Pressure Traps it would pull in all nearby entities instantly. The guys all pull their guns as they switched on the packs all at once.

The disk spirals in a pillar of light as the traps activated their beacons. The flaps fold out as the first ghost came out. The creature was much like slimer but was hunched over with a baby blue color. The ghost looks around for a moment, looking at its new surroundings. Looking to the window it flies straight for it, only to be bounced back by the shield. Shaking it's head it's attention is directly drawn to the four Ghostbusters. It gives out a roar as it charges at the closes person, Jack.

He fires a capture stream that because the ghost was very weak was easily caged. Fighting in the stream Jack doesn't smash or slam it. Only walking with it low to the ground over to a trap. When the ghost came into contact with the beacon it was rapidly sucked inside the Super Trap. A red dot raced down the length of the cord as it zipped up the connection hoses and into the Ecto's Super Slammer.

The mega trap whirled to life again as the second wave came. Which brought clusters of different 'Bat' and 'Spider' creatures popping out of the unit. The whole dome glowed in a deep blue and as each buster took on a defensive state. Shock blasts and stasis streams were flying everywhere with slime dousing the ground at fighting back the crawlers.

Outside the shield Leo hadn't taken his eyes off his computer or Pke. He was most here for gathering data on the effects of the high level of energy the world had. Since these entities they were using were captured long ago and in their world the possibility of a increase in strength that their equipment could handle. Rachel sat in the front seat of the car while Danny and Mike were preparing their packs for their turn later.

For the dragons it was an interesting sight to watch. The small crowd that were first there had grown extensively. Filling up the stands and now in the sidelines. When one of them would slam a ghost the crowd would strangely move their head in the same direction. When the fifth wave came out, the team was surprised to find out what it was.

"POSSESSORS?! REALLY LE-" Ben was cut off, the pinkish ghost had swooped down at him from above and flew into his body. Changing his eyes to a deep red with the same white glow. Roger went to slime him but as he aimed another ghost came up from behind.

"Jack, A little Pink would be nice!" Derek yelled to the technician as he wrangled a ghost over a trap. Jack's pack had the same type of tank design Derek's had but instead of a air tank it was a shaded pink color. This type however was a much more potent type compared to the stand alone slime blower that instead acted like a reverser. Turning bad entities to good for a set time. In a big Whoosh Jack slash sprays Roger. Ben went to attack but was covered by the over spray, causing him to fall straight into Roger.

"Ow…" they both groaned. Both of them stayed side by side as a cloud of steam billowed out of their packs with a flashing red light. Derek dashed over to their side to try and revive them. Barely missing a charging ghost. He brings his thrower up to try to protect himself but the spirit was grabbed and slammed. Jack looked back once with a nod before slamming the ghost across the floor into a trap. Kneeling down Derek reaches behind the two's neck braces and flips the reset switch. Both Ghostbusters jump to their feet, shaking their heads at the sudden mind rush. The moment was short lived as the same ghost that got Ben made a frantic charge to them. Missing Jack's stream just by inches.

"Oh Hell No!" Ben says firing a Boson Dart. Knocking the spirit down as all four of them locked a capture stream on it. They all give it a hard whip like slam before sending it in away. Their packs all unleash puffs off steam from their cores another wave prepared to come out.

"How do you guys keep so many spirits at once?" Volteer asked. Looking down to Leo.

"Our traps in general can hold a cluster of an estimated 250 different entities before a possible overload or the trap is full. The super traps, slammers and Mega traps all have a capacity of an indefinite number." Leo explained. "The more ghosts inside the more power the unit has to keep it inside." Volteer was impressed to say the least.

"So what if someone looked into the trap?" Cynder asked not taking her eyes off the fight.

Leo pondered for a moment. With such major advancements in their technology they were capable of preventing somethings. Like crossing the streams.

"Well it depends. If it's a Pressure Trap like what he used yesterday then possible to complete blindness. Our new Saber Trap is more focused so no problem there. But when you get to the bigger units it's a different story."

"Why's that?" Spyro raised a brow.

"It's something that was addressed through the franchise's universe. If a living being looked directly into a closing trap, it would steal their life essence or soul of you prefer. We've developed technology to prevent it anyway."

 _ **BOOM**_

A bright flash causes everyone to look away. Once it died down everyone looked to see the four firing in all directions trying to catch a fast moving Class 4 Red Blob Ghoul. Around it was 3 smaller blue ghouls. The once difference between each one was that the blue ghosts were less thoughtful and more random. Reds tended to be more like thinkers to plan attacks. The Ghostbusters however, didn't plan. Derek, Ben and Roger were all huddled together in close proximity to each other that they almost bashed their own packs together.

Their streams were destroying one of the minions but as they started to wrangle the beams began to coil around each other. At the halfway point they started to ball up as the other half shifted from red and orange to a green purple. The ball rapidly builds up until it ultimately collapses on itself. The beams are instantly cut off as three pulses surged back into their throwers. Each one was sent hopping across the ground till they came to rest all over the floor.

"And That, Is what happens when you accidentally cross the streams." Leo chuckled as he watched his work paid off.

Jack was frantically running around the court to revive the others while trying to one hand the ghost. It throws one of its minions at him and like in slow motion he was sent flying back. His health bars rapidly dropped down into a orange state. If he takes two more hits then the entire team will be done for the count. Rachel was already tempted to run in and help but she knew it wasn't time yet.

Jack manages to wrangle two of the ghosts and trap them within moments of reviving Ben. They both split up as he went for Roger. But to Jack's surprise Derek was already up and firing. Steam was still pouring out of his pack with the indicator light rapidly flashing. But his movements were slower than normal as he almost limped around. Focusing his stream on the main ghost the others manage to grab the minions, dunking them into each Super Trap. Once they had restarted Jack got to Derek's side and once again flipped the switch.

"Thanks." Derek said in his energetic voice again. Switching to slime blower as they attacked the entity straight on.

Above them however was a different story. The main arch that span across the roof of the room was showing signs of a building mass. The stone/wood was quickly being eaten away as a black sludge bubbled out. It first started as a small drop but it didn't stop. The first several drops fell to the ground, sizzling on the dome as it continued. The drops land just in front of the pilot as he finished trapping another ghost. Looking up he watched as the hole rip open.

"Slime!" Roger shouted as he fired a stream of slime at the ceiling. Quickly the others did so as a gush of the substance started raining down. But it was too late. A large blob had fallen off and had landed directly on the Mega Trap, causing the blue pillar to violently deform. The steady spin rapidly grew as the heads of ghosts started to pop out uncontrollably.

"Shut it Down! Shut it Down!" Derek yelled out as he sprayed the trap. The effect did very little as more and more entities poured out. The four quickly got to work trying to control the ever growing horde. The guardians instantly got up from their seats, realizing the situation was deteriorating they dashed around the barrier urging the crowd to back away or get out quickly. Rachel, Danny and Mike were quickly putting on their packs that sat against the wall. Preparing to go in if the barrier buckled.

Inside the dome ghosts were just flying out as the blocked off court was rapidly filling. Derek had already wrangled 5 in his stream with his Ion Cannon slowly bringing another two. Joining the cages together as it let go and fired at a different entity. Jack was firing away with a stasis stream while taking several close range shock blast shots. Several ghosts were rapidly frozen and dazed. Roger quickly tethered their frozen forms and fires the end next to the traps. Once the 'stone' broke they were pulled down inside. Ben dashed around firing the Feramon Shock, a wave like weapon that deionizes a entity's structure.

But the horde didn't stop coming. Leo was frantically trying to shut down the Mega Trap before much higher class entities could break out. Above their heads was a hurricane of screaming creatures that we're smashing against the barrier. The disrupters all surged in a shower of sparks at the constented hits. Leo saw the units do so and frantically entered another code. The power cables that ran from Ecto-1s engine all surged back from the traps super traps and and redirected it back to the towers.

"Derek!" Leo yelled. But didn't get a response. Reaching inside he plucks his radio of the dash board.

"Derek!"

" _You need to finish this now_!" Derek's radio blared.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" he yelled venting his pack and switched out of proton to the Electron Beam.

Because the Electron Beam was mainly an extension to the proton stream but was it's own mode it had a secondary and third fire. Switching to the second Derek points his thrower straight up, letting out a spyra of lightning that danced around them. Stopping the horde of ghosts dead in their tracks. Each one was spazzing out from the extreme electrical currents. Pressing the palm button he sets the beam into third fire. This mode was just like the proton stream's wrangler that would connect to every enemy at once, resulting in a giant ball of entry and spirits.

Back on the sidelines the dragons stood in as as Derek slammed the horde off the barrier. Many jumped back when sparks flew out and the wall deformed

"Well that's new." Leo said as he switches to the pack's diagnostics report. Each pack had a online link that was connected via pkes, computer, phone or other devices. It was mostly used to track down people whenevernl the team would be separated. Another was the ability to watch the condition of the unit. On the computer was a blueprint like graph that showed the entire pack. Moving to the cyclotron Leo opens the vent flaps. The eight cores were a solid light blue with red cycling around. Another slam at the floor resulted another loud crack off the marble.

"Now this is just fascinating!" Volteer yelled out. Leaning back as another slam came right in front of them. "How can he control lightning like that?" looking down at Leo he waited. But the scientist was too busy watching with the others.

Derek was rapidly heating up his Protonix Pack as he still struggled. This was one of the few times so far that he used this mode this long. Giving one more slam his left hand let go of the handle. Holding the 15 gun in his right hand as he reached behind his side. Tossing his Sabar Trap out it rolls across the ground next to the Mega. "Everyone grab on now!"

The others quickly latched onto the massive cage as Derek let off the lightning. In seconds the loss of energy quickly made the ghosts started fighting again. But unknown to them they were directly over the trap. The doors fly open as the trap cone engulfs the horde. Derek fires the beam again but this time at the trap. The increase of power makes the cone rapidly grow in size and strength. Several ghosts were already being ripped out from the cage as the team held their ground. Within seconds of the trap opening the mass was depleted down to just a few ghosts before the trap cone dropped them.

In a flash of light the doors fold back together. Cutting their beams the team all sigh in a heavy relief. Look around they saw the terrified and shocked looks they got. Finally catching their breaths they head back over to Ecto they retrieve their traps as they pack up. But the sound of clapping for their attention. It went from one set to another as the crowd actually began to cheer. Chanting at them. The four all stepped forward as the crowd around them let loose.

"PA- Lease… That was pathetic." A voice called out from the hall. Pushing by the now silent crowd as a all but familiar trio of dragons walked in.

"Dredge…" Derek and Cynder hissed. The others were surprised to find out that _This_ was the dragon that Derek broke his own rule on.

"This just proves you're the cause of this whole problem!" He yelled walking past the barrier. When he did however he shook his hard in a dazed manner.

"All you guys do is some light show with your sticks and act like heroes. Well you're Not!"

The team tightened their grip on their equipment. Ready to slime and freeze the earth dragon. Derek placed his hands out to tell that it wasn't worth it.

"The hell do you want now Dredge?" Spyro stepped forward. Bog Evy both step forward but is stopped by the earth dragon.

"What I want? HA, it's what everyone wants. These bozos out of here!" He yelled. Which only made the team more angry. "And you." He points straight to Derek. "You're gonna pay for what you did yesterday."

"If you had a brain of any kind then you would've known not to mess with someone like him." Rachel said stepping forward.

"And who the fuck are you? His ugly whore?" Derek's eyes widened in rage. No one talked to Rachel like that and got away with it. Aiming down just in front of the dragon he switches the settings to Meson Collider. Firing the primary button a ball of yellow energy blows out of the nozzle. The energy impacts directly in front of him, sending him flying backwards. Many gasped at the sight of Dredge falling to the ground.

"No One says that to her!" Derek yelled loud enough for most the hear. "And if they do, then they'll have to say it to me and my gun!" he holds his thrower up and fires another.

"You wanna dance human?" He said getting back to his feet. "Fine. I challenge the leader of the Ghostbusters to a Fury Fight." If the level of gasping couldn't get any higher, it did. A Fury Fight is something like a soldier challenging his superior officer. In the battle any attack or power goes as long as there is no killing. Spyro himself would get fights from dragons that think they could out match him but end up running away, not showing up or pissing themselves on the court. But Derek, or any human didn't have powers and had a fragile body.

Spyro stepped to the leader's side. "Derek, as a friend with experience, don't to it-"

"Challenge Accepted. But if we do this, we'll do it _Manhattan_ style." he said switching the pack to full power.

* * *

So here's where I start thinking how to tell more about the PGB since it talks about so much from previous stories not fully out.

This chapter is focused on three things mainly. The dragon's thoughts and reactions to the events in NYC, how the Ghostbusters operate when it comes to busting and the start of the rivalry between Derek and Dredge.

I've also planned out two endings. A Good and Bad. The Bad is more Canon to the PGB universe while the Good would end a chapter in current characters lives between the Ghostbusters and/or Dragons. If the Story follows the 'Bad Ending' then it sets if self for PGB: Paranormal Armageddon and even a return to this story.


	11. Conflicting Fights

Chapter 11: Conflicting Fights

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

So this is basically where Derek rekts the whole fight. This will show just how skilled Derek has become over the course of 6 years with a Proton Pack, new equipment/abilities and later on how to avoid a offer that he doesn't know what to think about and how his team reacts to the information.

* * *

"Challenge Accepted. But if we do this, we'll do it _Manhattan_ style." he said switching the pack to full power. Several dragons gasped. Spyro facepalmed himself with his claw as Derek walked over to Ecto-1. He looked to the team for help but they were either pissed or had blank expressions.

"Aren't you guys gonna do something?" He ask as they nodded.

"Derek!" Jack called out as Derek looked over to him. "Take the pistol and rifle." Derek nods as he pulled out a gun similar to Mike's Shock Gun but instead had a smaller 3-ring cyclotron. Taking off his traps and meter he clips the gun on the bracket with the pistol in the meter's holster. Bringing his goggles to his forehead he tightens the straps as much as he could. Reaching inside the car he pulls out a single pack strap and hooks it around all three nozzles and the rear handle. Letting his thrower now hang from around his neck. He pulls out a set of gloves that had large coils on the knuckles. Giving them a flect he steps out to the court.

"Well I'm set." He looks up to Terrador. "So how does a 'Fury Fight' work?"

"It's mostly meant for other reasons but since you accepted so openingly… the fight works basically till one is left standing. Say if two Kings of different kingdoms dualled each other and one lost, the winner would control both lands. But for you… I do not know."

"How about this." Dredge said getting their attention. "You win, I'll leave you all be. You lose, you leave this place for good."

Bringing his finger to his chin he thinks over the offer. "Deal" he bluntly says. This however did make the others a little worried.

"Derek," He looked over to see Cynder looking up to him with concern in her eyes. "Don't do this. You have nothing to prove."

"Sorry Cynder. But I'm a Ghostbuster never backs down a challenge without a fight first."

"But there is one issue." Volteer stated. "Because of your physical strength and lack of magic you're already set as a handicapped opponent."

"I don't need it. Not while I got." He reaches down and pulls his rifle. Flipping the large gun in his finger as it hummed to life. "Science at my side. Forget about the handicap. I've dealt with worse before. Like one time I was fighting a slime monster and it came up and hit me straight into a bus. Not the best of times but it worked out."

His sentence made them tension up for a moment. Spyro and Cynder were trying to fight back the urge to say something about his fight.

"Anything he throws at me I can slam back." Derek walks back into the barrier. Looking at the court he walked over to the starting spot. On the other side Dredge was already waiting with Terrador standing in the middle.

"Alright, since this is a situation unlike anything we've done before I'll keep it simple. Any attack, rather it be energy or physical, is allowed but No attempts to Kill. You can summon help only once by anyone of your choice. Stay within the boundaries and keep it clean. Especially you Dredge." he glared at the earth dragon. Both opponents waited as the guardian walked back to his place beside Cyril and Volteer.

' _Don't do anything stupid…'_ both Rachel and Cynder thought.

"FIGHT!"

Dredge instantly makes a beeline straight at Derek. The human waits for the right moment as Dredge flapped his wings. Once Derek saw the different tints of red in the dragon's eyes he side stepped to the right. Bringing his thrower up as Dredge passed just inches away. Almost like in slow motion the red particle beam shoots out the barrel, drawing itself towards the dragon as it coiled around his tail and up his body. Jerking the forward handle back hard the beam constraints. Dredge barely has time to react before he is slig shot backwards. The force was fully felt when the beam let go of him. Sending him flying face first into one of the support columns.

In a loud thud everyone flinched as he slid down, some dragons started busting out laughing at the comical sight. Once he hit the floor he looked up to see Derek send a blob of slime. He quickly rolls to his left as far as possible, avoiding most of the slime mine. But to his dismay another but smaller mine hit him on the right side. Pinning his wing down to his body.

"Come on!" Derek shouted out. "This is just Slime!"

Dredge forgot about any to all the dizziness, looking back to the human with growing rage. He charges forward, trying to build up speed without air support. He gets within 10 yards till a dark blue beam came flying at him. Shifting to the right he pass Derek's stasis stream, zig zagging to avoid becoming a statue. But a idea hit him, more or less the stasis stream did. He skids to a stop as the beam took over. But unknown to Derek was that he was freezing the slime that held the dragon's wing down. Once it was hard enough Dredge rolled to the left, on his back and brought his right side down as hard as possible. Like cold glass the slime shattered, freeing his wing in a 'pop' motion. Giving it a few flaps he quickly jumped into the air. Soaring high above Derek Dredge eyed him like a bird of prey.

"Going high, eh?" Derek said as Dredge smirked. "Why don't you come down here and we'll settle this." He reaches his thrower back behind him. Clipping on to the bracket but making sure the strap remainded close on him. "Man vs. Dragon." he clanged his gloves together.

The rings on each knuckle letting out a faint red glow as a spark arched between them. Dredge's smirk grew intensely larger. Flicking his claws out to their fullest length he flies down to the ground. He brought his decent so that he would run straight at Derek's chest. He closes the gap within seconds before they both pulled back their fists and -

 _ **WHAM**_.

The impact shakes the whole area, shaking dust off the rafters and even moving the Ectos. The dragon is flown back by the shockwave as Derek covered his eyes, his vision blurred for a moment before it came clear again.

Dredge already regained control before swooping up again, shooting out a quick blast of earth energy. The shot itself looked like a greenish brown version of a Boson Dart. Taking one look at his glowing hand he runs up and jumps, reaching out to try and deflect it. But instead it merges over, stopping dead in its tracks. Once Derek hit the ground his eyes were filled the the green light.

"WOAH!" He takes a double check at what had just happened. In his right hand, or over it, has a giant green fire ball. He knew the gloves could catch Pke charged energy like a baseball mit. But this was something new to him. He made a mental note to talk to Leo about his time modifying the equipment but focused back on the fight. Aiming forward he sends his hand out, like punching air but the movement instead fires the ball of energy back off the glove. The battery pack strapped to his wrist that powered the coils let out two tiny beeps before a mist started leaking out.

On the other side, Dredge couldn't react fast enough to avoid his own blast from hitting him square in the chest. The blast was much more forceful due to the protonic charge added in. He was sent skidding backwards across the ground before letting out a heavy groan of pain. He could feel parysbof his body wanting to give but he denied it. He brought his front claws up and pushed up, resting on his hunches.

" _Aw Crap…_ " Derek muttered as he shook of the heat. He quickly reaches back behind him and pulls his thrower again. Switching to proton stream but turning down the intensity. This allowed the stream to be less harmful but if in a form of a boson would shock anything unconscious. Taking aim he lines up his shot, Dredge saw him prepare the pack but remembered what Terrador had said in the beginning.

"Time!" Dredge yells before Derek could fire a Boson. Looking over to the guardians he calls out his choice. "Bring out Everything!"

Terrador didn't know if he should do so, but because it was Dredge's one use he had to. Walking over to the controls he pulls down ever lever on the panel. Making small opens slide open from the floor. Derek quickly vented his gear as figures started forming. Wooden dummies just bigger than him started springing up all around him. Some with wooden swords, spears, shields or are just big enough to use themself.

"Damn… didn't see that one coming." He said pulling his rifle.

On the other side Dredge smirked, thinking what the likely outcome would be. "Now this, is gonna be fun."

Derek wasted no time in dealing with the new horde, first several shots from the Shock Blast chewed away any that got too close.

"This is just like Westpoint all over again!" He laughed. Unknown to him that his team could hear it through his radio.

"You could say I'm having a, BLAST!" He yelled out. At the same time they all facepalmed as he ducked under one of the larger dummies that tried swinging a wood sword down. He quickly spins to avoid the hit and sends the barrel up underneath its chin. Sending its head flying into the air in a burning, nuclear blaze.

By now Dredge had managed to rest for a moment after the attack was cut off when the protonix pack venting. His aching body felt pain that he wished he would feel again. Even if it was only days ago. Looking up to the fight he watch Derek destroy the endless horde, not looking fazed or tired. Derek was gonna win, and they both knew that at this rate it was undeniable.

Dredge won't allow it. He was made a fool once already, and now it was his chance for pay back. He watched Derek for a moment, watching how and when he would switch up modes and fire. He fully knew that he could touch him physically, so his only best deal was the samething the human used, range. Mustering any power that he still had in him he carefully walked around the horde. Avoiding slimed, shredded or burned bodies to get his shot.

And he did. He was directly ahead of Derek. He had both guns facing ahead that continued firing on. Closing his eyes he began building up a charge. He waited till the sound of the pack's alarm sounded, indicating the need for a vent of manual or automatic.

The sound came, the main thrower shutting off as steam shot out the cores. His shot open as he opened his maw, unleashing a large, pulsing green orb. The blast itself wasn't directly aid at the human, but more to his feet and ground. It tore through several dummies, smashing or burning through till it made impact. Just as the pack finished venting, Derek reeled back from the hit, sending him cascading through the air. He flew over a majority of the dummies before landing hard on his front. Skidding across several feet like a penguin before finally stopping.

"Ow…" he shook off the time rush and jumped to his feet. Looking back he could see Dredge do the same move again. Taking the chance he aims the thrower at the dragon, firing the Meson Collider he sends a bolt of yellow energy.

Dredge flies back several yards from the hit. But what surprised him and many others was that the energy was stuck on him like a flame. The second he saw this he tried to wipe it off, or strange enough, drop and roll. Watching while he fought Derek couldn't help but laugh. Stuck on him as a targeting beacon, the second use of the MCs primary fire. Once a target is locked on with one, everything that the Overload Pulse releases will go straight to that target, regardless what direction you fire or where it is.

And he did just that. Wrapping his pointer finger around the secondary fire as a stream flashed out. While it did this he quickly switched up modes on his cannon, using the Stasis Stream to freeze or slow down enough attackers so the rifle could do its thing. Dredge however was running as fast as he could. Jolt after jolt, nonstop pounded at his sides from the pulse. He tried running behind the much larger dummies but even they couldn't block the no time at all did the he collapse to the ground. To weak to move any further. While Dredge was now down, Derek still had a large problem. The horde was now coming at him nonstop. Like zombies after you trigger a car alarm.

His cannon faced forward unleashing Boson hell, his thrower to the right letting out a massive stream of slime, and his rifle to the left firing a proton stream as high as the setting switch could get. The horde was falling all around him in, splinters and shards of wood flew in all directions. The combined light from the fight was enough to make some cover their eyes.

To everyone, it looked like Derek had it handled. But because he only had three different angles, his back was unprotected. Another portion of the horde rushed up from behind. Derek didn't see it at all, and was tackled to the ground. He drops his rifle and thrower as the cannon cut off. The remaining bodies continued to pile on top, building a mountain out of themselves.

Once the last one jumped on, the room fell silent. Everyone looked at the pile were Derek stood, their breaths caught in lumps inside their throats. The team were equally shocked. They knew how Derek could hold up in something like this, but every time could be different.

"Come on Derek…" Rachel whispered. "You've done it before… Do it again."

Dredge however, had the biggest smile he could ever have. He looked around for a moment. To the crowd, the guardians and the team. When he saw their faces, he smiled even harder.

"HAHAHA! I-"

 _ **CH-OOOOOOOMMMMMM…...**_

"...win…?" his eyes widened in shock. He quickly breathes, forming a rock wall just inches away from him. Flaming bodies rained down across the court area in a bright flash of orange and red. In the basic situation, the dummies would just regenerate and get right back into fighting. But none of them did. No movement, no sign of life.

It wasn't until he dropped the wall did he see it. Derek stood there he his thrower aimed at the air. The once glass clear barrel was now a sizzling hot red. The cyclotron on the pack springs open as it let out another plume of steam. What surprised both Dredge and the Ghostbusters was how much remained on his health bars. They were barely halfway gone. Lowering his gun down he lets it swing in his right hand, kneeling down he picks up his now venting rifle. (It has a cyclotron too, so it also vents.) When he goes to grab it, a wooden hand grabs around the end of the barrel. Barely half the torso of a charred dummy trying pulling the gun down. But once the vent finish, Derek wrapped his finger around the trigger and fired. The particle stream vaporizing it's head and arm into dust.

(Imagine it execution style with a proton thrower.)

Everyone was shocked to see him stand back up, now facing straight to the earth dragon.

"Overloader, gotta love it." He chuckled. But the moment was quickly cut off as a green blast raced at him. Like earlier he dodges it to the left with moving his spot. Dodging again to the right as another came by. Dredge was in full rage mode, the fire I'm his eyes burning a dark blaze each time he fired.

"WHY WON'T YOU FALL?!" He yelled out between breaths. Rearing back he inhales deeply before sending the biggest blast he could hold. Derek quickly brought his thrower up to meet the beam as he fired a full charged slime stream.

The two beams collided in a shower of sparks, Derek carefully hooked the rifle as he poured all the pack's slime out the blower. At first it seemed that Dredge was the clear victor, but reaching down Derek used the switch on the handle to reangle his cannon. Pressing down the cannon glows to life, firing a proton stream stream into the collision point. The ball swells up in a massive blob that was the stream was barely able to hold around. Dredge tried his best to hold up against the combined force but felt his legs begin to buckle away. The second he did so his element lost its form. Causing the giant slime ball to fly at him.

 _ **SPLAT**_

Dredge is instantly smashed by the blob. Throwing him back several yards before coming to rest in the gooey mess. Derek though wasn't so lucky either. The massive surge had caused the entire slime blower to explode in a wave of slime back to him. With just seconds he holds his thrower up and head down. He's kicked off his feet by the wave, sending him a few feet back.

The over spray splashes all over the court as both sides if the crowd waited. Neither one of them moved for several moments, as if they were dead. Leo looked at his computer screen to see pack's vitals still working. The two green bars were only ⅓ down.

* _groan_ * Slowly Derek sat up. Letting his gun fall into his lap. Twisting around he gets onto his hands and knees before pushing off the ground. Look around before he smiled, the whole crowd erupted in cheers and whistles as he spun around, holding his right hand in a peace sign. The Ghostbusters and dragons both run to him. He spins one more time before he started to fall. But was quickly caught by the Smith brothers.

"Not again…" The earth dragon groaned. His body ached in pain as he he tried to stand up. But to no luck he was stuck to the floor by the blob of green. Evy and Bog both rush over to his side to remove the substance but ended up getting caught in it too.

"How do you feel?" Leo asked waving his meter around Derek's body.

"Groovy…" he responded. Carefully the team helped take off the extra gear to lighten the load on the leader. They go to unbuckle his pack but he put his hand up, stopping their progress.

"Leo… tell me. Is the shower still working and do we have spare sets of clothes? "

"Yes."

"Good." Derek pushed by his teammates. " If you all would excuse me..." he said turning towards the door. "I'm gonna go take a ion shower and a nice long nap for a bit. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the trailer."

Not saying another word he walks off down the hall. Passing several more dragons that stood in the hallway. Some backing away in the thought that he would lash out while others tried not to inhale the smell the slime gave off.

 _'God dammit, should of been wearing the mask...'_ he thought wiping more slime off his face.

He could taste traces of Slime. Most would think it's the most disgusting thing ever. But in truth it's smells and tastes ( if you're stupid enough to eat it.) Like a garbage dump of tuna. The team has gotten use to the stench fairly easy but just being covered was not the most likeable experience.

Rounding a corner he entered a side hall that was a straight shot to the main building. Slowly working his way down Derek just thought about collapsing onto a soft bed. When he got about half his head perked up. The sound of claws against the marble floor filled his ears. He took more last step before stopping.

"Hello?" His voice echoed.

"Who's there?" he calmly said. Carefully taking hold of his slimey thrower, flipping the power switch on as he twisted the dial on the dark matter generator to full stasis. Slowly turning he brings his gun closer before quickly spinning around.

Nothing. The only thing behind him was a small trail that dripped off. Taking his goggles off he gives them a few hard swings, causing more slime to hit the ground. Strapping back over his slimey hair he switches between thermal and tracker. Looking down the hall he saw nothing but a glowing purple trail. (The slime does that when you look at it close range with the Para-Goggles.) He held his gun closer, looking in every direction. He went to grab his Pke but had forgotten that he took it off with the rest of his gear.

"Great, I'm hearing things now. Maybe I do need that vacation to Flor-" "Hi!" a blue face jumped into view.

"GAAA!" Derek tumbled backward as he fell down on the marble. Ripping the goggles off he got a good look at who it was.

It was a dragoness, the eyes giving it away. She was aqua blue with a dark shade of grass green under her belly. She stood roughly up to Derek's chest and you counted the three white horns on the back of her head it would go past his shoulders. Her eyes were a dual shade of brown similar to his but with a yellow outline. Making them seem to flow when in the light.

"Oh Sorry! Sorry!" She leaned down taking his hand. Though the slime was fading off it still left a sticky feeling in her claw.

"Sorry, guess I should've been carefully after what I saw."

"No kidding." Derek gave his gun and pack a quick shake. Most of it was cleared but his blue and black jumpsuit still had green. Wrapping the band around the slime blower he clipped the gun back on his pack and continued walking. He got around 30 feet before stopping again. Looking back he could see the dragon still there, at the same distance. Walking forward more he takes another couple of steps before looking over his shoulder. She was still there.

"Okay." He fully turned around. "Are you here to fight me as a way for Dredge to do something to me or are you gonna ask a series of questions about something related to what I did?"

The dragon was a little surprised by how bluntly he said those words.

"I wanted to say thank you." She said.

Derek was puzzled. "For what?"

"For putting Dredge back into his place. He was such a jerk to everyone and being around him was last ke hell." She responded. Derek knew two things would come of this. One was that he got himself between what he thinks she means by or she's just happy that Dredge's ass got kicked twice.

"Well uh… you're welcome…"

"Oh Erica." She lefted her hand up. Pulling off his right glove they shaked.

"Derek Stewart."

"I just wanna say. Holy Crap, that was amazing!" Erica shouted.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I get that alot. First time for people seeing a Ghostbuster in action."

"So are the rumors true? Your from a different world?" Her question was laced with fear and worry.

"Yep. All 8 of us. We're here because of this places' paranormal and slime problem. But so far the spooks haven't realized that their messing with the Protonix Ghostbusters."

Erica tried hiding a small giggle from his statement but just let it slide. For a moment a dead silence filled the air fast. For Derek it was becoming slightly awkward while Erica just stared up at him. Her eyes would dash from his head to other parts of his body, pack and suit

"Well… I uh. Guess I'll see you around?" She sheepishly said. Rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, Sure." he said in a calm way. After they had done so Derek turned back down the hall again. Glancing back once to see that Erica wasn't following.

When the he rounded the corner he heard what sounded like a deep inhale followed by a sigh. Waiting for a moment he just shrugged it off and continued on back to Ecto.

* * *

 _Training Room_

"I can't believe he did that…" the purple dragon shook his head.

The group were still inside the room cleaning and and packing away the equipment. The guardians had broken off to talk to Dredge leaving the two by Ecto-1. Spyro in truth was amazed. Derek stopped something dozens of times stronger than him and still defeated Dredge. Even of that force was an army made out of wood. Cynder however was trying to hold back a thought that everyone overlooked. Her face was scrounged up in a grumpy way just thinking of it more.

Spyro looked over and saw this. "Cynder, You alright?"

"I'm Fine." she said through her teeth. Spyro rolled his eyes, she wouldn't tell anyone until she did calm down. By then the dragons had returned to him.

"As the issue is now out, " Volteer started. "Dredge will be punished that is fit for him. Say, helping you?" he points to the team.

"NO!" They all shouted at once. Starting the dragons.

Rachel took in a quick breath. "Sorry, but it would be a very bad idea. The possibilities of fatal handling of equipment, doing something that ends all life as we know it, or piss Derek off so much that he pops a brain vessel and does something insane are too high." Terrador was about to say something but just slowly closed his mouth.

"Well, I guess we'll find something out. And for Derek he will be quite busy now." This caught all of the humans off guard.

"Why's that?" Rachel raised a brow to the earth dragon. A look of confusion formed across his face as he glanced to his comrades.

"Because he won the fight." Cyril said getting their attention. "A Fury Fight is meant for 2 things. One is showing Power and Dominance. The second for challenging others for mates."

The last sentence made several of them to become jaw dropped. Rachel however became slightly frustrated and was starting build a hint of anger.

"Care to explain…." She said gritting her teeth like what Cynder did moments ago.

Volteer explained. "You see, because of the war the dragon species has been significantly reduced to the point that you could call it endangered. In order to hopefully grow back the population, a male dragon can have multiple female partners in a group. A Fury Fight is meant to show that the male is strong enough to protect his current or future mates."

"And Dredge had three with him." Spyro chipped in. "They were only with him for about 3 weeks and tried getting others to fight Dredge so that they could leave. Most were to scared or were crushed. Since Derek didn't say anything against that before fighting, and that Dredge had lost, he is now technically their new head male."

The information said hit Rachel like a truck load of bricks. She couldn't honestly believe that just because Derek wanted to defend them that he go ahead and agree to have three dragons with him.

"And what if he refuses them?" Rachel crossed her arms. Waiting for an answer with a stern look.

Terrador responded. "He can't. Even though he's not dragon he still is their new leader. The only way he can't be is if he's dies or loses in another fight."

Rachel didn't say another word. The seven of them knew Derek wouldn't lose or die in one for that matter. She wanted to just yell out at the top of her lungs but huffed and walked away. Walking over the equipment she hopes onto Ecto-X1 and guns the throttle.

The bike screeches on the hard floor as she dug her bolt down, spinning the bike so that it faced the doorway they brought Ecto-1 in. Yanking the handle bars back so that the front wheel would smash open the door. The sound of the engine and bike slowly got quieter until both couldn't be heard.

The dragons looked at the team then back to the door with confusion. "What's her problem?" Spyro asked.

"If my guess is correct, which it has before." Leo started. "She thinks that those three are gonna try to steal Derek away from her. It happens a lot in New York when ever someone tries to get things from us or something."

"What's wrong with that? Derek now has 4 mates." Volteer said in a innocent tone. Causing every ghostbuster to face-palm.

Roger was the first to speak up. "That's not how our world works. Population is divided 50/50 on each end of the spectrum. For Derek to have another women in a relationship while he's with Rachel is like… well. Slime hitting the fan."

"And before you say he can just, fight again, Derek is someone to stand his ground till he's 6 feet under it. If it involves Rachel, God couldn't prevent him from stopping. " Mike walked by carrying a disrupter.

"What do you mean by that?" Cynder asked.

"Derek and Rachel have had a thing for each other for about the past 10 years. Up until we started this job did they really start showing it."

"So they're like two magnets that once you pull apart they go right back together." Roger added. Some of them nodding.

"I'll go get her. Hopefully she doesn't lose it again." Mike said stepping into the cadillac. Turning on the lights but no the siren he backs the car up just enough to drive around the group and out the same door Rachel did.

*Sigh* "Those two need a vacation." Leo shook his head as he gathered the rest of the equipment that he didn't get to put in the car.

"They both seem to be… off at times." Cyril added. "Derek especially. Why is he like that?" The 5 remaining Ghostbusters all lot at each other, all of them with a look of grief.

"It's… a touchy subject. Derek doesn't like to talk about it or for us too." Leo said, holding back the incoming memories.

Cynder asked, "But why?"

"We can't say much. But it's the full, true reason why Derek pushes himself a lot when it comes to ghostbusting and fighting black slime." Jack explained.

"Indeed. You see, back in our world around two to three years ago, New York City almost got wiped out from something we were fighting since we became a team,"

"Infestation." Cynder said receiving a nod from the scientist.

"But it wasn't the real reason why. During Infestation you could say Derek got revenge from the one who caused the problem. During our second year in New York… something that none of us, not even in the different franchise of Ghostbusters expect to happen."

"What?" Spyro asked. Leo just hung his head low. Like mourning the loss of someone. The dragon looked over at the others that remained quiet.

"You'll… you'll have to ask Derek that himself." Leo grabbed the remaining gear and walked towards the door. None of the Ghostbusters said another word as they disappeared past the large doors that closed behind them.

 _Ecto-7_

Back at the trailer, Derek had finally gotten out of his third ion shower. Turns out that the slime did manage to get into the suit. Leaving him as sticky as a exploded glue bottle.

Stepping out of the door in a fresh pair of cloths with a towel around his neck and a satisfied smile. He walked over to the fridge, swung the door open, pulled a pepsi off the door. He tasks a several large gulps of the drink before leaning his back against the counter.

* _knock,knock,knock*_

Sighing he places the bottle down and walks past the equipment locker. Inside his pack was being sprayed by a dissolver to remove any dirt from the past several days. Stepping to the side door he clicks the lock and swings the door open.

"Hi Derek!" Erica said waving. Behind her were two more dragons. One was slightly smaller than Erica with a sunrise orange and yellow mix with white wings and horns. The other was about the same size as Erica if not a inch or two smaller. She had a ocean blue color with jet black dtripping that spiraled around her back and wings up to her three horns.

"Uh, hi. What can I do for you and you friends…?" He asked leaning against the door frame.

"Oh this is my friends, Jewel," pointing to the blue dragon. "And this is Sprite." She points to the smaller yellow one.

"Sprite and Jewel." He said giving both a long look to match the face with the name. "So what can I do for you?"

"Anything you want." Erica said with a blooming smile. This had caught Derek off guard more than he should've been.

"Uh… why?" He asked not knowing where this was going. The grin on her face slowly disappeared but still stayed.

"You beat Dredge in a Fury Fight. So now he has to follow through the rules.." She explained.

But Derek was still dumbfounded. "And where do you three come in?" His question made all three of them look to each other in a astonished way.

"Surely you know the reason why a Fury Fight is done?" Jewel asked.

"I only did that to show him that he shouldn't mess with my team or girlfriend. Slamming his ass into a building or two in public was for insulting Cynder. Since that wasn't enough the fight was pretty much a rematch." he said growing a bit frustrated.

The three seemed a little surprised by this. They were there when he first fought Dredge and stood up to the former terror queen and purple dragon. But witnessing his fight because he cared about Rachel enough to go in blindly was the biggest shock. The girls each exchanged glances before all nodding on something.

"Oh. Well I guess there isn't much left for us to ask. Sorry for bothering you Derek." Erica said backing up. Pushing the two slightly to make them follow her lead.

"Uh, no problem?" Derek got back up and reached for the door. As he did he glanced back at the three with their backs turned. He could've sworn that he saw them swaying like they would collapse with their tails swishing side to side. Shaking off the sight he closes the door, sighing deeply at what the day had become.

" _God this is gonna be like Parkersburg all over again_ …" he muttered as he returned to his drink.

Meanwhile, the trio were making their way back inside. Once they got out of sight of the trailer they huddled closely together.

"Well this is gonna suck…" Jewel groaned, hanging her head down.

Sprite nodded in agreement. "Yeah, he doesn't even know what the reason for fighting in a Fury Fight is for and yet he technically brushed us off!"

"Girls," Erica said stopping them. "This can work for us. Just think, true that he's a alien from a different place, but he's a new person that's kinder, smarter and easy on the eyes. Even when he's covered in green slime."

"But he's the leader of the Ghostbusters." Sprite said.

"Which everyone is actually dying to see and meet." Jewel added.

"Exactly, and, he doesn't know how things work around here. He's clueless as to what the fight was meant for. We can use this to our advantage of getting somewhere other than Dredge." both Jewel and Sprite smiled at the plan. If they could play their cards right then it could fully work.

"Come on. Let's head to our rooms and prepare." Erica said as they started back down the hall. Unknown to them that Dredge himself was standing at the back entrance and heard them.

 _"So he thinks he can just take my girls? He has another thing fucking coming for him…"_ Dredge said in a whisper.

Stepping away as he headed down the opposite path. But unknown to both parties was the shadow that laid sprawled out in the rafters. Folding together it swoops down to the floor without a single sound. Look back in both directions the dragons had traveled.

" _He's Mine_." It's deformed voice that could peel paint coldly said. The shadow collapses back to the ground as it slithered away

* * *

This was a bit everywhere. It showed some of Derek's history. How strong him and Rachel are. The rivalry that will be built up between both Human and Dragon. And a little more about Infestation and a side tale.

So far with the heavy output of big chapters the range between how many there will be isn't focused. So the ending of the Arc 1, Ghost of the Dragon/ Malefor vs. Protonix Ghostbusters will be coming in either a short time if I make the chapters fold over each other or a long time.

For what some might wonder where the Manhattan thing is. It's because Derek used his equipment other than just going out hand to hand. A reason why Dredge got hurt more and actually weaker was because the proton packs are built to dissipate negative energy. Because this world is superly charged by Pke energy, and that every living creature has been exposed for their entire existence, the equipment can be used against living beings. Which is a reason why Dredge could be wrangled or frozen. The same going to the dummies.

Because the pacls can effect their energy, it's possible that one of the Ghostbusters could fight against stronger foes like the Guardians or even Spyro and have a greater chance at winning.

Now most would wonder, this is suppose to be a Spyro the Dragon story. Where and when the hell is it going to come in? Well, this story is mostly based of the PGB series. Meaning it more focused on the Ghostbusters than the dragons.

For better info on the Battery Gloves tech look to the profile. The guy has been making a lot of new stuff and I've been updating periodically to include it and descriptions.

 _"Believe us, we already have too many crazies on our team."~ Leo referencing when Danny and Ben first joined the team._


	12. Flip City

Chapter 12: Flip City

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

This is mostly a shortish chapter meant to reflect on what has been happening in New York for the past 4 days. This will be the first full (or most) introduction of the 4 PGB franchises. The Liberty, Allegheny, Patriot, and Rogue Ghostbusters.

This chapter isn't really the greatest for it is technically rushed.

Quote: this story series runs between 2013 and 2025. Right now the year is 2019, so things happening now are past and some are just fillers. And as of before the event 'Infestation' is past history.

" _And I want to know Why everyone I know, has gone Flip City."_

* * *

New York City, 4 Days after the PGB disappearance.

Across the Northeast, a all out manhunt was in full swing.

FBI to local law enforcement were combing through every square around the city, trying to find any of the Protonix team's whereabouts. The search was so massive, cops would find on the run or hiding criminals, drug busts and all sorts of things. But to their luck, nothing.

The situation was more hectic in New York itself. After the disappearance of the firehouse two days prior, paranormal activity skyrocketed throughout the area. More and more reports of slime monsters had driving the four franchises from around the area to try to maintain control. In Central Park, it was semi-usually business.

"SOMEONE GET THE DAMN TRAP!" a redhead women yelled holding a ghost in a proton stream. Two others were trying to hold on as the entity tried to dash around.

Over by the Ecto-R1, (Ghostbusters 2016 Ecto- 1) another came running to the vehicle. Reaching in the back they yank out a G-trap from the mess of equipment. Setting the modes they toss the trap towards the group.

The trap skids to a halt as the beacon dropped. The doors flip open as the trap cones engulfs the ghost. It tries to fight but the women jerks the thrower back just enough for it to fall inside. The trap flashes a red light, and returns the beacon. Catching her breath she looks over to the other who was casually drinking a cup of coffee.

"Where the hell were you!?" She roared, stomping her boots into the ground. She approaches the 26 year old man that wore the same jumpsuit as everyone else. A shaded tan with two sets orange strips.

(AN: If you read chapter 9, then you'll know what the team kinda looks like. In this case, you'll find out.)

"Getting coffee for us." He calmed said handing the 3 other cups out. The two gladly take their drinks while the women hesitates between drink it, or splashing it in her co-worker's face. She just sighs and takes the cup. Swinging it back once as a small feeling of relief came.

"Any other calls?" She asked. He just shook his head.

"Nope. Bruce and the others are back at the lab and and the Patriots are in Brooklyn finishing up a monster call."

Taking one last drink she walks around the Ecto to the driver's seat. Unbuckling her pack she hands it to her partner. "Let's get back. My legs are hurting."

Stepping inside she sits herself behind the wheel. The man slid into the passenger seat beside her as the two others finished up. Once they were in she started the car up. The yellow and blue light bar's flashed to but without the siren. Pulling out down the path that lead from the east gate they came through. Sitting there 4 police cruisers sat waiting, the Ecto pulls into the middle as the cars follow close by. For what they hoped for added protection, the city ordered police escort for all 4 teams around the city. This would mostly come into action after a call was placed and a group was already out.

The streets of New York however, normally packed with cars, taxies and buses were as quiet as before a hurricane hit. Most people stayed inside their homes or evacuated. Fearing that an impending disaster was just around the corner. The events of before had been enough to tell that when the Ghostbusters got this serious, hell was bound to follow. The journey wasn't long due to this, and the group made the track back to base fairly soon.

Warehouse 84. The building itself was mostly used for storage of things that couldn't fit in the firehouse, now was flooded with people, vehicles and soldiers. Because of so much activity the military was called in to form a perimeter around the building. Going so far as having actual tanks sitting at the lot's entrance with the timely helicopter. As Ecto-R1 pulled in, several men carefully walked around the car holding Pke meters. Once they were clear the hearse pulled into the main building.

Inside it was pretty much what you would expect a warehouse to be like. A large open space with items spewed all over. Most of the unit was cleared out to make room for the five vehicles all four teams used, along with 4 Dodge Challengers that were used as rapid response units. Pulling beside a 2004 GMC Yukon and a 2015 Chevy Colorado truck, the caddy easied to a stop before the accelerator engine powered down. (Like before, all PGB vehicles run on big ass cyclotrons.) Stepping out sluggishly they took their equipment and load traps over to a conjoined shipping container that were pushed side by side with the walls missing. Inside the right unit was Allegheny Ghostbuster Peter David, the Egon Spengler of the Steel City unit. Since his team arrived he and Scott Stewart have been tasked to building a large amount of G-traps, Pke Disrupters and meters for the area. In the firehouse substorage, there was crates the size of a minivan packed full of just traps from Infestation that weren't needed. But since the building was gone and that each team had around only a maximum of 20 traps on hand, the need for more was a tall order to combat the growing problem.

Over by a clearing that the teams used as a makeshift break room, Doctor Bruce Morris, the head scientist and leader of the Liberty Ghostbusters, stood around a table with Matt Blake, the Patriot Ghostbusters leader, and the chief of the New York Police himself. The map that sat before them showed the large area of the city that the Protonix controlled. Red Xes were scattered across the area with a large blue X over the location the firehouse stood.

"Any luck in the subway?" Bruce asked the chief shaking his head. Peeling a clear version of the map that showed the transit system.

"We searched all the main lines around the island itself. All break off lines that aren't sealed off are empty. And the lower levels haven't had any luck at all."

Bruce brought his hand up and sighed. They were running out of places to look. Even if they were taken the meters would be able to track their equipment. But every was a literal dead spot.

"As it stands now." Matt brought his phone out, typing in a fast paste on the calculator app. "The level of activity a week ago was at say, 37%. Slightly below normal. As of today however, it's now at 65% above normal and growing. Reports of Slime Abominations are starting to become widespread."

As he explained he looked over to see the same women walking over.

"Bridget, find anything?"

"Nope. Just one ghost." She drops the trap down on the table.

" _**sigh*_ * At this rate it's gonna be infestation again. HEY SCOTT!" Bruce's voice echoed through the building. Startling some but getting the other's attention.

" _WHAT_?!" Scott yelled back from the container.

"WHEN IS MATTEL SUPPOSE TO GET HERE?!"

 _"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?! THEY MAKE TRAPS AS FAST AS WE MODIFY THEM!_ " Bruce just rolled his eyes. True that they had the tech to make the traps work, but building large amounts like how Mattel makes replicas was much easier.

"At this rate, we should start thinking about another possible Call Out." Matt said shaking his head. A Call Out was pretty much the Ghostbusters version of a military draft that called on people from across the country or overseas to be brought over. It was dubbed Ecto Force and served as a private army ti the Ghostbusters. Bridget knew first hand, when she and her team were still getting us to being their own team in Philadelphia they came back to New York to help train dozens.

"Sir." A military officer walked up to the man. "We have something from the Patriots Unit."

Exchanging glances the three leaders and officer quickly dash out of the building. Not paying attention to passing vehicles or the steady beginning of rain falling. They sprint over to a military tent that was set up against another warehouse, why they didn't just set it up inside, they don't know. Ducking past the tarp they step in to see two officers finish wiring a tv screen.

"All set." One says looking back once before stepping away. The screen flickers to life as the image began to come through.

 _"You guys copy me?_ " The man said shaking the camera a little more.

"What to you got, Dylan?" Bruce crossed his arms, hopping for good news.

" _We dealt with that monster call. But what was weird was what it was made out of._ " he reaches back and pulls out a black crysral.

"What is that? Ice?" Matt stepped closer.

" _No. At first we thought it was the effects of the stasis stream on something. But it's giving off high levels of Pke energy. I am litterally holding a slab of black slime."_ It took a moment for the three of them to register the info.

" _But that's not all."_ Dylan continue _d. "When we were preparing to leave we got a massive surge in there readings. We found the source of it pretty fast._ "

"*clears throat* And what was it?" Bruce asked.

" _The Reservoir, it's gone._ " Every man and woman. Both police, military and ghostbuster froze. The Reservoir, a 7 mile wide lake of Black Slime, gone.

"How-How is that possible?" Peter David shuddered.

 _"Well, it's not technically gone. But right now me and the others are all standing were 50 feet of slime should be over our heads. We scanned everywhere, there's barely patches of it that's still here. But other than that, it's completely dry."_

No one said any. People outside who came into see or overheard stopped dead on their tracks with a lump in their throats. Bruce turned his gaze over to Peter. Then David, Bridget and finally back to Dylan. Under his breath he whispered quietly but enough for the two to hear him.

" _God help us all_ …"

* * *

 _Meanwhile in the Temple of Doom. (The Dream Realm. I'm calling it that, deal with it.)_

Inside the vast library, Ignitus stood by the mirror he traveled through to the human world. The glass showing the activity around the warehouse with the teams watching David explain what he found.

"It seems that we should of thought this out more." he said loud enough for the old dragon walking part him to hear. He stops for a breif moment before continuing on.

"True. But we definitely couldn't of pick a better time for them to meet each other. And I must say. I am surprised at how causal they are taking the situation." Ignitus was also surprised by this. For some, random person in this type of situation they would beyond confused, curious or something else. To the team it was just like a normal thing for them to experience. Taking one last glance he waves his claw over the imagine. Causing it to slowly fade away till it showed the dragon's reflection.

"Are you sure that was the only way of getting that stuff?" Turning towards the Chronicler, pointing to the pot that the old dragon had in his right arm. Inside one would clearly see the reddish tint of slime inside. Slushing around at every movement.

"If I can create the proper formula. This kind hasn't been affected by our world's energy as Leo explained. Because this is from their world it should be less powerful and more stable." Turning back he takes several steps to the boiling calderon. Gently lifting the pot up he pours the slime into the mixture the brownish color began to quickly change. Glowing a shade of purple as both the black slime and liquid became a bright bubbly white.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? If what we heard them say about this substance is true, then we could end up doing more harm than good." Chronicler looked back to the fire dragon, placed the pot down and inhaled deeply.

"While I do share your level of concern. They'll need every form of help they can get. And while that means this won't be ready till the time is right. The other is slowly coming through."

Walking past he walks over to a crystal desk that sat in one of the roofs that spun off of the main. Inside the glowing room was a variety of crystal, ores and unimaginable material. On the desk itself was a large red structure that was both half missing and complete. The most noticeable thing one would point out would be the red and white sign that hung over the main building's front door.

* * *

This will be one of the few times all 4 teams will be shown like this. I did it because I wanted to introduce them in some way before they played a role later on and side step for a moment from the story itself.

The Chronicler scene also plays in for what is to come in the future involving the Team Protonix.

And now things about the teams~

Rogue Ghostbusters:

Bridget Filmem: Leader

Daniel Rikers: Womanizer

Jessica Topps: Scientist

Sarah White: Writer

Vehicle: Ecto-R1

A modified version of the 2016 GB Reboot car, this one has no hearse symbols, a standard roof rack, super slammer, a orange and blue light bar and 'No-Ghost' hood ordainment.

Allegheny Ghostbusters:

Michael Jones: Leader

Peter David: Historian/ Psychics Engineer

Scott Stewart: Investigator, Derek's Brother In-law

Blake Stump: Financial Manager

John Stewart: Derek's Stewart's father

Vehicle: Ecto-1P

A standardized blue Jeep Cherokee, based on the vehicle used in the GB fanfilm, 'HellBent'.

Patriot Ghostbusters:

Matt Blake: Leader

Dylan Woods: Historian/Scientist

Gabriel Patrick: Paranormal Investigator

Oliver Porter: Paranormal Investigator

Hunter Walks: Paranormal Investigator

Doctor Glean: Paranormal Biologist

Vehicles: Ecto-1E and Ecto-2E

Ecto-1E: 2010 Chevy Colorado

Modified truck. Only gas powered vehicle still used by the PGB. Has a red and black roll cage, extended roof rack that overhangs the rear bed. Equipment locker tool box, on-board Pke Disrupters and bull bar mounted proton gun.

Ecto-2E: Jeep Gladiator

Outside, off sight type vehicle. Basic truck but with her roll cage and equipment locker.

Liberty Ghostbusters:

Bruce Morris: Leader/ Scientist

Ray Phillips: Nuclear Engineer

Thomas Beckons: FBI Accessor

James Brown: Ghost Cop

Lee Willis: Ghost Cop

Tyler Rowan: Military

Ryan Clock: Military

Vehicle: Ecto-DC

A black 2004 GMC Yukon with a Ecto-1A roof rack, bulbar over the entire front. Super Slammer, rear window display panels. Resembles the Ecto-1G used by the Protonix Ghostbusters during their first years of business.

Note- All teams use variations of the Video Game packs, except The Rogue GB who use downgraded versions of the Mark 1 Protonix Pack. (Aka, The Experimental)

Each Ecto is based on fan created replicas of the car. The LGB use a version of the car the PGB used earlier in the timeline. The RGB use a crossover type hearse based on both the Reboot movie and Ecto-3 from the video 'Ecto- 3 Prototype'. The original vehicle for the AGB was a black Jeep Wrangler.

The PGB are the only ones to have a vehicle that is solely based on the original movies, which is a modernized/upgraded version of Ecto-1A or the IDW comics.

A reason why Bruce mentions Mattel. Since this whole world is based on ours, and that the general thoughts about Ghostbusters are to movies, the technology didn't truely exist. When Derek first made a working cyclotron core and venting, he was capable of putting it in a modified replica of TVG Proton Pack. The same is to all equipment. So in a way, they could take a basic fan made or so pack, trap or meter and modify it to fully function.

(Better description coming soon.).


	13. You're Not Alone

Chapter 13: You're Not Alone

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Not to be confused by anything. Derek vs. Dredge, Flip City, and this chapter are all on the same day.

* * *

 _Later that Day..._

After the whole event in the training room, the dragons had gone back to their daily tasks and classes. Most of the time they were interrupted by the students who had watched the fight and asked about the Ghostbusters.

In not even a week their name was something that the whole city knew. It took some time for word about Spyro being a purple dragon longer and even still some didn't know. But now, both he and Cynder sat in the classroom. After all, they may of saved the world and they were at the adult age, But they still need to know a lot from schooling. The classroom itself looked more like a lecture hall in a college that wasn't sloped up, along with about 3 dozen other dragons of all kinds sat taking notes. Yes, actually notes with paper and books.

Volteer stood at the front of the room with a massive chalk board that dwarfed him, covering nearly half of it was a equation about how two elements can be combined to form a entirely different element.

"And if you were to concentrate the two central forces, you'll get the same reaction that will cause both to collapse and merge together." He finishes it off with a large line underneath the entire thing.

"Now I expect you all." he pauses, eyeing some. "To complete this work by next week. That concludes today's class."

With that everyone immediately gets up and heads towards the door. But some however stayed behind. The reason being, Leo was sitting at Volteer's desk with 3 small towers of books. He completed each book within the first 20 minutes of the class. He was mainly there for what he likes best. Learning science.

Some had tried to get close to the scientist. But were usually stopped by the electric dragon. Leo didn't mind them. He would go to schools and universities to promote ideas, tech about the advancements in new research fields and the paranormal. He knew why Volteer, or any of the other guardians didn't want anyone really around the Ghostbusters.

It was much like in the 2016 movie, or original, that what they did was dangerous and could lead to trouble. Volteer on the other hand, felt like he was literally talking to God. At first it took him awhile to know what Leo was talking about. His definition of the internet was one to make even Einstein baffled. He took down notes of everything, literally, everything Leo said, he got it on some form of paper.

"So, how was the good read?" He asked as Leo got up. Stretching till he heard a few cracks.

"Not bad for this kind of world. Though while I do have to disagree on some points in the midway, overall it's a... eh, 7 out of 10." Making his way out the door with the dragon in tow.

"I must say though your theories are ones that I've seen other take decades to form and even try! How did you accomplish this?!" He points to the board.

"On a normal day, I sleep about an average of 5 minutes out of every 12 hours, leaves me a lot of time to work. I once went 7 months without sleeping. The result was that equation in the first 3 weeks. For the rest of the time I focused on how someone could go completely without sleep but yet gets its benefits at the same time. Results so far, questionable."

Volteer stood there with a dumbfounded look. Many dragons glanced at him while passing by before quietly walking away.

 _Rachel, Sometime Ago_

After bypassing the temple's gate, Rachel was making a beeline straight to the city's main gate. She didn't bother turning on the bikes lights or siren, the engine was only as loud a window air conditioning unit, making several people have to jump out of the way of her.

Rachel however didn't care. Her mind was racing with a million things on her mind.

' _They think just because he stands up for me every time some.. WOMEN tries to steal him way… Especially that reporter…'_

She knew that Derek wasn't really into that kind of stuff. He was more like Ray Stantz on a casual day. Buy with that comes four sides. A goofy, childish side, a serious, ghostbusting scientist side, a family man and a risk taker. The first and last parts is what usually made Rachel concerned. Back sometime after the Shandor event she was constantly watching out for a news reporter named Kerry Givus. She was the one that tried so hard at getting Derek to do things that no one approved.

Her face was like a scar that never goes away. Because of this it made her so angry she was tempted to just unleash hell with her particle thrower. And within no time she could. The main gate came into view, it was already opened to allow several different beings to pass in and out. This time she reached down to the control panel to activate the siren. But before she could she heard the distinct sound of another Ecto caught her attention. The buildings made it hard to see but she took the chance.

Gunning the throttle the speedometer reaches past 40, then 50, and 60. Some barely had time to see her zip by. But she didn't see the flashing blue lights that lite up the side of the wall. The Ecto-1's white paint and black roof came quickly into view of everyone. It screeches to a halt in front of the doorway. Rachel quickly hits the brakes to avoid T-boning the car as both her wheels dragged out. In a cloud of dust her front wheel barely nips the car's paint.

Mike rolls his window down too stick his head out. "You know I'm not the one to do this, but today I'll make an exception." he carefully opens his door. Rachel backs up to try to go around but is stopped when Mike pulls the key, cutting the engine off. "And this." He twiddles it in his hand.

"You really need to get over it. It's been two, three years now. You know he isn't going to leave you." She didn't respond, she just stared down at the control board. "I mean, take a look. We're in another world, in the middle of a city with dragons all over the place. By now the average person would be freaking out beyond control. And you're worried that just because he won a fight that involved this world's rules doesn't mean it's gonna change anything."

"And how do you know that?" She shot back.

"Because we both know why."

Rachel was about to reply, but the words got caught in her throat. He got her right in her own thought. Mike slowly handed her the key again. She plucks them from his grasp and intk the starter. Roaring the engine to life as she carefully backed up. Giving it a few revs she guns it down the right side street that Mike came from. Once the blue of her jumpsuit was gone Mike let out a heavy sigh. Swinging around the door he hopes back into the Ecto-1.

"I really need more vacation days at this rate…" he says to himself. Making sure not to hit anyone he turns the car around to head back the path.

 _Ecto-7_

Sitting at the table with a bottle of his favorite drink, Derek was typing away on his laptop. Normally it would be Leo who documented these kind of events. But to him he might as well do it now with the spare time. It was somewhat of a mission log to the team, each buster (or most) would record the events of something big happened. He started doing this after moving from his home town to Pittsburgh back in the day. After typing up everything from the night he met Spyro and Cynder to fighting Dredge he leaned back in the seat, taking a big gulp from the bottle and sighing.

 _*knock,knock*_

Getting up from his seat he heads over to the front of the trailer. Beside the equipment locker was a large red handle that ran from the base of the floor. Taking a drink he used his free hand to lower the main door. At first he was expecting the others or in some case, another dragon. But this time it was the white and red mass of his bike that pulled up.

"Rachel?" he asked as she shut of the engine. Making sure it was locked she slides off the seat. Making sure not to get her suit's hose stuck, she turns straight to the leader. Not saying a word her arms wrap around Derek's torso tightly. Closing the door back up he takes his free arm around her.

"Hey… what's wrong?" he said gently stroking his her. Rachel didn't respond, not moving from her place. Derek reaches over to place the drink down before wrapping both arms around her. Rachel managed to turn her head to the left so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

"Derek…" She quietly asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Do you remember that promise you made."

"About the twinkie incident?" He received a few giggles.

"No, Back when we first fought that demi-god, and you said you would take our place?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you do, don't do it here." She tightened her grip around him. Moving so that she was looking straight up to his brown eyes. In truth, Derek was just 2 inches taller than her, it wasn't much but showed a difference. Leaning down he gently places a small kiss on her forehead.

"And I'm still holding it." He said as they broke. "Come on. You should get some rest." They start walking back.

"It's only 6:44." She protested. Derek was gonna argue about it but decided not to. Pulling over one of the curtains that divided up the bunks he helps her easy into hers.

"And with that, we need all the energy we can get. So rest up. We still have ghosts to bust." He leans in giving her another kiss before pulling out of the bunk. "Oh and one more thing." He pulls a spare walkie talkie from the shelve. "Just incase anything happens." He hands her the radio. She calmly takes it and places it beside her pillow.

Her eyes slowly closed as Derek head out. Stopping once to finish his drink and hook on his belt. He stopped at the equipment locker that held his now cleaned Protonix Pack with two other packs and the Boson Pack. His mind said he should take it. Normally in _this_ type of situation it was protocol to wear some type of pack. Rather it be a full size or a Mini-Pack that could fit under the jumpsuit because of the PKE Shield. But something kept telling him that it would be fine.

Walking past the locker he heads for the side door. Opening it he reaches back to a switch panel, flicking the lights off to where a blue glow from the locker, the light in the PCU room and some equipment was the only light. Making sure everything was fine he steps out with the door closing behind him.

 _Cafeteria_

Meanwhile, at the school's café, the two legendaries sat peacefully eating a plate of steaming fish and vegetables. It was a nice change out of everything. Usually someone would come up to start something about Cynder which would lead to a fight between them and Spyro. But since Dredge's fight with Derek in the street, no one dared to even glance at the black dragoness.

"Well, at least no one can say what would happen if they out in your nervous again, Cynder." Spyro chuckled at the thought. Cynder didn't make any attempt at a remark. Her eyes were fixed to the table in the corner of the room that sat up against the windows.

A group had surrounded the 5 Ghostbusters whom didn't pay much attention to it. Leo and Jack were hunched over a Proton Pack working on the cores. Roger had his back leaned up against the wall with his ecto-goggles covering his eyes. Gently breathing in and out during his nap. And then the Smiths, both of which had their arms locked together when sitting across from each other.

No one knew why.

People had tried to talk to them. Only getting small answers to just a few groans. So most of the crowd was more broken up to leave them be.

"Man, when Derek said they didn't like the attention, he meant it." He chuckled but didn't receive a answer. "Alright, that's it." Spyro stands from his seat, making Cynder look at him in question. He walks around the table to her side and sits back down beside her. "What's been bothering you now? You haven't said a thing since the fight and you're usually not this quiet. Not for a long time."

Cynder looked at him once, then to the group and finally answered. "So much in so little time. It was completely normal until this whole slime business started again and now the chance that it's Malefor? It's just…"

"It's just too much at Once again." He finished for her. He felt it in the back of his mind, he was pretty tired of everything about Malefor that he just wanted it to end once and for all. Yet even after all this time, everything is falling apart again.

"Let's just look on some what of the bright side. We're stronger, we know what we can fully do and now as a bonus. We got people who know how to deal with-" _**Ch-oooommmm** _ "-this…"

Both of them turned over to the table where the team was. Standing there was a small lime green dragon with deep red eyes holding a proton gun in his hands. Everyone in the room had ducked to the floor as the Boson Dart flew over the entire length of the room, just missing the main door. Taking the chance Leo snatches the gun out of the dragon's claws, vents, and activates the safety. Clipping the thrower back on the side he tries to not yell out the mistake at someone handling a armed proton pack with no idea what to do with several dozens of people so close by.

"Never…. EVER! Try or do that again." He yells down at the now shaking dragon. "One single, false move could easily vaporize _Everything_ around us." he takes the pack by its straps and swings it back onto himself. If he fully powered down he would've fallen through the wooden seat under him but thankfully, it didn't.

"I swear he's just like Egon." Both Spyro and Cynder jump back at the sudden sight of Derek sticking his head between the two.

"What's got you? It looks like you saw a ghost." He walks past the them with a smirk. They both sighed in disappointment and follow up behind him. Walking past the still ever present crowd he comes up to his teammates.

"So who tried to make a new entrance?" He points over to the large burn marks on the wall.

"A overly curious dragon. That's who." Jack answered. As Derek sat down beside Danny, the same green dragon carefully walked up to the leader.

"Uh… excuse me." His voice filled with fear and curiosity. "Are you Derek? The one who fought Dredge twice?" Just the sound of his question easily told Derek and the others that he had experience with the earth dragon. Looking into his eyes he could see traces of pain in the youngling.

"Yep. Let me guess, he causes you trouble?" The dragon looks down at the floor.

"Yes. He's always going at me and my friends whenever he would be separated from the teachers." Derek knew that feeling. Back before he even built a pack he wasn't the most liked person in high school.

"Well, if that's the case. Then the next time he tries to do anything, just tell him who you gonna call." Right now Derek's inner mind was grinning from cheek to cheek

"Ghostbusters!" l The kid joyfully shouts.

"Ata boy. Now go run along now." Derek waves him off. He immediately dash in the opposite direction past others. " _Thank You!_ " His voice yells out as he left the room. Derek could hold it back anymore and let out a smile. Turning back to face the others he saw them, even Leo with one.

"You were always the one great with kids." Leo said while adjusting a strap.

"No kidding. Why do you think moms ask for me to visit their sons and daughters birthday parties so much."

"I'm still pissed they drew on Ecto-1 after I gave it a repaint…" Danny muttered, making the others roll their eyes.

"Yet you enjoyed buffing that out and making it shine like a lake in the desert." Roger chuckled as he leaned back up. Danny shot a quick glare at the pilot's direction before just sighing deeply. For them, it was so far nothing different than anything really before.

But for the others, it was to them like riddles. The two sat at the end of of the table between the leader and scientist, making sure to avoid the pack. Neither made a attempt to join the conversation but to just listen.

"Remember that one time at the Waterfront?" Roger asked eyeing Derek.

"You won't let that go, won't you?"

"Nope. You two." He looks over to the dragons. Leaning over the table for them to hear. "This guy. Say 7 minutes after agreeing to our first New York job, decided to go and get it hard. We kept telling him, Don't drink at the sports party. And what did you do?" all eyes moved to Derek.

"Drink at the sports par- Oh, haha! I almost walked right into that one." they broke out laughing.

"What the hell are you people talking about." Cynder spoke up. Making the others to calm down some.

Derek was finally able to stop. "Just reflecting the past. It helps the mood sometimes and reminds us of the good things."

"So…" Spyro tried thinking of what to say. "What should we do about the slime problem?"

Leo had a answer. "As of right now we can't do anything. We have no leads, no sign of a source. Ghost activity is strangely none existent compared to when we first arrived. We checked the training room, found no possible trace for the black slime that hit the trap. Plus with our current lack of a base of operations, resources, man power and equipment, we're kinda…" he struggled to think of the right words.

"Dead in the water." Roger finished. "We haven't been this unprepared since we went to Manhattan." The others nodded in agreement.

"Oh come on guys." Derek said standing from his seat. "If the Originals can blow up a Proton Pack to rip a hole in the universe to go back to their world, than we are more than prepared, in a sensible way, to take this on."

"You have a lightning gun and a cannon." Ben stated. "You three," He points to just Leo and Derek, "Are the only ones with packs strong enough to really do something by yourself. We've been stuck with the same four modes since we upgraded our packs with the extensions."

Pondering for a minute moment Derek let the statement run through his mind. "Jack, didn't you say you were working on the Mark 3 Prototypes?"

Since infestation, the three men have been pushing the construction and tests of a new set of Protonix Packs. As it stands there was only really 3, a spare and the first mark 1 that everyone called 'The Experimental' that was used to test new pack functions. The Rogue Ghostbusters were the only ones who had more downgraded versions of said mark 1 but mostly used Reboot style packs. The new mark 3 was gonna be the new standard for everyone on every team.

"I was. That was what I went out to get parts for before we came here. Last time I saw them I dropped them on the floor." Jake quickly trained of the thought into another one. But the obvious was clear.

"With the containment unit almost full after flushing out _All_ of our current traps, we're gonna really have to cut back on usage of them. Elimination is gonna have to be our key solution if anything pops up." Reaching back Leo pulls out his Pke. "And right now, we got nothing."

"Damn. When Chronicler said about a huge slime problem, a few ghosts and a couple of dozens of monsters wasn't really a problem." Roger said.

"It leaves just one question." Derek stands up from his seat. Looking straight at the dragons. "Is there any bars around this place?" Instantly ever buster perked up.

"Ah… why?" Cynder raised a brow.

"Cynder," Derek said walking up to them. "There's 5 things a Ghostbuster needs. Food, Water, Ghosts, Money and a good drink every now and then. And right now, we could really use one." As soon as he walked over to the door, the others were quickly following behind the leader. Cynder took one look at Spyro, who was just shaking his head.

"I really hope the Chronicler had a good reason of bringing them here…" he said as the went on there way.

* * *

 _ **Long ago, we lived without our fear.**_

 _ **Not knowing when, the gates of Hell will break loose.**_

 _ **Never knowing who can answer the call.**_

* * *

And the count is at 3,907

So far the story is progressing well. This is definitely shaping up to be a Summer Long kind story. Because I most likely won't finish the first Arch before the end of April or mid May.

Like I said before (for the unknown amount of times) this story is focused on the team more than the dragons. This chapter marks the official beginning to Arch 1 story where the team will be confronted by a variety of enemies and 'friends' while working their way towards the source of the threat.

The lime green dragon in the cafeteria is based on what I think Slimer would look like as a dragon.

Until next time in Chapter 14: _A Blood Trail_

 _"On a normal day. I sleep about an average of 5 minutes out of every 12 hours, leaves me a lot of time to work." ~ Leo referencing Egon's sleep experiment from the Video Game._


	14. The Trail of Blood

Chapter 14: The Trail of Blood

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

"Alright… where is it?" "I don't know! I don't go to bars." Spyro answered with his level of frustration growing. The 9 of them (when leaving the temple they met up with Mike) were walking around the city streets looking for a possible tavern.

"I could Boson Jump and find Arnold Schwarzenegger in Brooklyn faster compared to this." Derek said looking up to the sky ahead of them. He didn't really know how long it was but the sun was just barely visible over the builds and wall. He didn't bother checking his watch. He felt the time that had past in the bottom of his boots. The same could be said for the others. Everyone, except Mike, had opted to leave their packs at the trailer but still went out fully geared. Mike had his pistol holstered just behind his trap, Leo brought his Giga meter, Derek had his Sabar and Pressure Traps along with his gloves. Roger and Danny had the Shock Gun and Proton Rifle strapped on their backs while Ben and Jack were left with nothing else.

"We have been walking around this city for hours. We should've just brought Ecto." Danny stated. Everyone nodded.

Just as the round the corner to the street, Derek lifts his arm up. Stopping Ben and Roger that stopped the others.

"You smell that?" He asks.

Everyone takes a deep inhale of the strange smell before them. It was much more burning scent, like Mexican food, with a hint of a sweetness. Not wasting a second they quickly pick up speed, dashing around the corner before stopping at a sign that number hanged the street.

' _Ash Cloud Brews'_ it said in stained wood. The building itself looked like a stone storehouse with a much more musked look and feel.

"Is this it?" Mike asked. Looking at everyone. It took both Derek, Roger and Danny to push open the surprisingly heavy door that was no bigger than the one at the firehouse. Inside it held the activity of a super sized Dave and Busters with a more medieval set up. A large bar sat up against the wall with several large kegs that were easily the size of a volkswagon. The main area was a setup of tables where much larger creatures, mostly dragons, could sit with The walks aligned with smaller tables.

"Well this place seems nice-" "GET OUT OF HERE, SCRAM!" A dark blue dragon came barreling towards them. They quickly stepped to the side as he ran out the door. Not soon after a much larger black and orange dragon was running after him.

"Shall we proceed?" Taking caution into account they weave their way over to a booth set up near the back wall. As they did they past several different of beings. Most notably large dragons that could be compared to the guardians with much smaller ones that could be size with the team. They head towards a more secluded area where smaller beings could be seated. One by one they slid in so that Derek and Spyro sat at the ends. Taking another look around they didn't say anything about the way it looked.

"You know this place reminds me of Shenanigans." Derek said looking about.

"You mean that place with the goofy crap on the walls and the breadsticks?" Jack commented. Earning a few smirks from the others.

Mike pinched the bridge of his nose. "I swear to God I will pistol whip the next person who says anything about shenanigans." He drops his proton pistol onto the table. Roger smirked and looked over to the brothers.

"Hey Danny." he looks over. "Remember the time we dropped water balloons full of slime off the side of the building onto those protesters?" Everyone knew that day, just the thought made them grin.

"Weren't those just harmless _shenanigans?"_ The look on Mike's face began to grow.

"Yeah. Their _shenanigans_ were just cruel and evil. Our _shenanigans_ were just-" "ENOUGH!" Mike finally yelled out. Everyone at the table, including Spyro and Cynder, all threw their heads back in laughter. Mike slammed his head into the table hard enough to cause it to bounce. He was about to say something before a deep orange mass stepped up to the table. It was a younger dragon that was around Spyro's side.

"Flame?" Spyro asked. Surprised to see him at a place like this. At first, the fire dragon didn't respond. His focus was to the 7 humans that semi circle around him.

"Oh… my… Ancestors… YOU GUYS ARE HERE!" He joyfully yelled out. Causing several people around to look at him in annoyance. Flame regains his pose as he tried holding back his excitement.

"I… I just… Wow… I…" he couldn't think of the right words.

"You need something, yes?" Leo looked up from his meter.

"Yes! Ah… Could you… sign this." He slides the tray into the table. Everyone looked at him in a confused manner. He gave the board two more taps to make sure it got close enough.

"Uh… sure?" Derek reached down his pant leg and fished out his knife. Flipping it open he places it in his right hand to carve out a cursive font of the team's name. Making the P and X more noticeable, he finished it by drawing a circle around it with a slash going just under the name.

"Here." He pushes over the tray back. Flame instantly grabs said tray and runs out of sight.

"Hey! What about our bloody drinks!?" Ben shouted in the possible direction the dragon went. A groan escaped his lips as he leaned back.

Derek looked back to Spyro. "Is he always like that?" the dragon shook his head.

"No. Flame is usually the shy kind of guy. Now he's… this. I guess?" In a few moments someone did come by. This time it was a mole who carried two large plates of 9 football sized mugs.

"Here ya go. On the house for you guys." he didn't look to them before walking away. Reaching over they each take a mug, but stop at seeing what's inside.

"Uhh…" Mike said looking at his drink. It was a greenish brown that has the look of grease.

"What is this stuff?" Jack pulled out his glass, looking over to Leo who waves a sensor over it.

"It's called Light Out. Some of the best stuff this place has." Both Spyro and Cynder knocked their glasses back in large gulps. Everyone looked to their leader. Derek just rolled his eyes at them before lifting the mug up.

"Leo, if I die and you do go back to New York, the paperwork for the firehouse is in my bed. I won't say where exactly so you'll have to find it." He puts his lips to the edge before slowly tipping it watch in anticipation.

He being a it back down to the table. "Mmm… a bit spicy but-"

' _**BUUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPPP'**_ a huge flame blew out of his mouth into the air above them. Once the fire stopped he looked back down to the others. But before he could say everyone wave for Leo was chugging down. In seconds 6 more fires shot up. The result had earned several laughs and claps from other people like someone just took a promotional challenge.

"DAMN THAT FELT GOOD!" Danny yelled out.

"So…" Derek said thinking of a way to get on a topic. "What do you guys usually do around here?"

"Well." Spyro took a quick sip. "Normally we spend our time catching up on history that we missed. Go exploring outside the city and hunt for crystals."

"Why crystals?" Leo asked.

"There's a variety of them but there's two that we always use. A reddish kind that can act as a healer to most dragons and species. And a green emerald type that can restore manna for one's magic."

"Fascinating…" Leo pulled out his phone to make a note.

"What is that? Another piece of your gear?" Cynder leaned in closer.

"It's a Iphone. Most humans use them as a form of communication over distances and do several other tasks. Playing music, video, checking on the weather or recent news just to name a few." both the dragons were surprised to hear that such a small thing can do so much. But it didn't surprise that That much because of their other equipment.

"Question, Who was that pink dragon that tried to get you after the guardians told is about Malefor?" Derek slightly shivered at the memory of what had happened.

Cynder explained. "She's a dragon who's been obsessed with Spyro since the day she saw him. Flame does try to get her off him But it's a losing battle sometimes."

"So what about you two?" Leo looked up from his phone. Both blush slightly at the question.

"We're actually more like siblings when you look close enough. Cynder never really had the chance of being part of a family and I was raised by dragonflies. We stuck together during the war, fought together and _sometimes_ each other. But we made it through." Cynder leaned onto Spyro's shoulder with a large smile on his face. The kind of saying thank you for everything.

"How about a toast?" Derek lifted his mug. The others following. "To a bright, peaceful future."

"To having enough money to buy out Trump Towers!" Danny said earning a few chuckles.

"To Bill Murray making Ghostbusters 8." everyone laughed at Roger's line as they all took in the liquid.

But halfway through their eyes suddenly widened as the they all spit back into the mugs. And they weren't alone. Every single person in the building who just drank something spat out. Taking a double take on what just happened everyone was gawking.

"EW what the hell was that!? It tasted like-" Before Cynder could finish Derek quickly jumped from his seat and smashed the mug into the floor.

"SLIME!" Derek yelled causing everyone to do the same. In seconds puddles of the black substance littered the floor. But what shock them was what it did. It all started to move towards the main bar where the kegs sit. The keeper had quickly jumped out before the slime itself jumped into the barrel. The nozzle itself broke off as more slime started to build up. The puddle began to rise as two clawed arms formed.

"EVERYONE OUT NOW!" Derek shouts. Everyone there quickly dashed out the front door. But to the dragons and team's dismay. They were further back than everyone else with the monster now just to the right. It's body strange enough became more human like in structure with a head and skinny body/arms with two short legs. But that's where the similarities stopped. The being was completely black with hints of purple visible by the dim candle light. All over its body, was a mess of green slitted eyes that each were carefully wrapped by tentacle like limbs.

"Okay. That's new-" Jack ducked down as Ben flipped the table. Blocking slime blobs from hitting them. Mike quickly pulls his pistol as Roger and Danny pulled their rifles. Ducking to both top, right, and left they take aim at the creature. Two proton streams and concentrated strips if dark matter tore at its body. It brought both arms up to try to block its body with several eyes popping. It flings its left arm as it sends a large blob at the three. They quickly pull back for cover but quickly get back to firing.

"Use the trap!" Roger yelled getting a capture stream briefly on its body. Derek quickly detaches the Pressure Trap, adjusting the setting to max.

"Wait, wait! It's not gonna work!" Leo yelled pulling him back. "It's Pke signature is still too strong. We need a slime blower before we can do any!" Derek quickly grabbed his radio and flipped to a channel.

"Rachel, Rachel do you copy? We got a-" _**Ch-oooommmm**_ "- situation here! We require you at the he sight now with all our gear!" There wasn't any response but he knew the message got through.

"What now!?" Danny yelled as the rifle cooled down. Derek quickly started planning out what to do next.

He looked over to Spyro. "Spyro, think you can freeze him up some?" The dragon nodded.

"Everyone else, get ready." He crouches down so that he had a good grip on the table. Ben did the same as they waited for the three to finish their clips.

"NOW!" Spyro leaps from behind Mike as he ran/flew across the right wall. Focusing a storm of ice onto the creature that tried to throw its own attacks. What it didn't notice was that the Ghostbusters had quickly dashed forward with the large table as a shield. Danny and Mike continued to fire from the left as Derek and Ben smashed the table into the creature. The force was just enough to knock it onto the ground where Spyro quickly froze it solid.

Dropping the table the three looked down upon the black mass covered in a blue white. For a second it seemed over. Until a crack began to form. Spider webbing out.

"Let's go!" Derek makes a break for the door, closely followed by the others. Once outside they rejoined with the group that now had a crowd building around them.

"Leo, what the hell was that?" The scientist already had his meter out. Before he could say a word a blood curdling scream fill the night air. In a blink of the eye the wall where the front doors were had blown out in a cloud of rumble. The creature stood their for a moment, staring down the humans and dragons. The eye on its head seemed to grow in surprise before the others followed. It then turned back to the team. Both Derek and Spyro stood side by side while watching.

Suddenly it launched forward. Practically skating across the stone that made up the street. Several tentacles and it's large claws rose forward.

"Roger!" Derek yelled as the pilot tossed him the proton rifle.

One handing the trigger he holds it out as far as he could and fires. The orange stream makes a direct hit against the creature but to his surprise doesn't fully stop it. Just as he goes to turn up the strenght a torrent of fire blasts past him. Engulfing the length of the beam as it too attacked the monster. Derek didn't have look to see that it was Spyro who stood in a dragon type pose he was in.

Now it had fully stopped to try to block the combined force. Inching closer they kept the force on until the rifle's cyclotron vented in a hiss. Spyro tried to push his fire breath longer but eventually lost it. Taking in deep breaths as they both watched carefully. But what they didn't see was that the eyes on its back were glowing a deep toxic green.

"Derek! Leo shouted in shock. "Get back before-" he was too late. It slammed its fists into the ground. Massive shards of purple spikes fanned across the area. Sending dozens of people to the ground or flying briefly. Both Derek and Spyro were knocked further back due to being so close.

"HELP!" Cynder yelled as she was grabbed around the neck by one of its tentacles. Drawing her closer the creature dashes through a clearing in the fallen crowd.

"CYNDER!" Spyro shout as he jumped into the air giving chase.

"You guys flank him! Everyone else keep the people safe!" He quickly runs off into the direction Spyro went.

Already up ahead the purple dragon was just behind the creature firing burst of fire and earth. But the monster continued to dodge each one. He zips closer ahead, turning to see if Cynder was clear of a shot.

"Cynder!" He yelled. Hoping she would yell but received no response. His anger was rapidly building as they disappeared around a corner. It went slightly higher before dive-bombing down to the street. Just ahead of him the monster quickly caught sight of the dragon. It extends it's right claw out in front of it as another blob of black slime rapidly formed. Spyro tried to redirect himself before he would collide into the mass but failed to slow down enough before a flash exploded from his left.

 _ **Ch-ooooooooommmmmmm**_

The creature flies across the street, dropping Cynder before it collides into building. Derek came running out of the alley he had emerged from. Sending a second blast he runs up to the dragon.

"Cynder, Cynder! You okay?" He asks as he rolled her over onto her back.

*groan* "That hurt…" she said rolling back. Once she did her eyes widened in fear. The creature had already freed itself from the rumble and was hunched over, zombie limping over to them. Derek pulls his gun up again as Spyro stepped behind him to shield her.

But before it got half way over to them, a flash of blue light filled the streets with the most famous siren the leader owns. The creature had very little time to react before the white mass of Ecto-1's pull bar smashes into its side. The force was enough to send it flying even further away. Derek quickly jumped up to the passenger window to see Rachel fully suit with a hard look over her face.

"Derek, what was that?" She slowly faced him. He doesn't answer before pulling the door open.

"No time to explain. Follow that thing!" Without a second thought she slams her foot on the gas. Derek holds onto the door as tightly as he could as the car raced down the street. Once the car was out of sight, the dragons stood there for a moment to regain their bearings.

"We need to help them." Cynder said spreading her wings. Before Spyro could say she takes off after Ecto-1. She didn't know where the sudden boost in energy came from but it greatly help.

Just below her she could clearly see the flashing blue with the wheeling siren echo in the streets. Derek was still hanging out of the door with just his foot wedged inside while trying to hold the rifle in place. Each time they hit a bump or rounded a corner he would almost fall out or in. Cynder was able to catch sight of the creature as it seemed to stay just ahead if the car. Swooping down she flies just above the ground in a street parallel to the car. Dodging several items, carts and the timely bystander she cut across the block. Spraying a massive acid pool in front of the monster.

It glades straight into the pool of the green substance as Ecto skids to a halt. Stopping just inches away from touching. Rachel quickly hops out as Derek tossed her the rifle. Keeping it aimed at the downed being. Derek quickly rushes to the back of the car and pulls out the gurney with his Protonix Pack already powered up. Closing the door with his boot he straps on the pack and pulls the gun. Flipping off the safety switch that allowed the cyclotron to light up. Walking ahead of the car he circles around the puddle as Cynder approach from the left. Both were ready on a hair trigger if it made a move. Most if it's eyes were closed over with slime with it motionless.

"What is it Derek?" Rachel asked from the car. He kneeled down some to get a closer look.

"It's… it's a-" "LOOK OUT!" Before he could do ish his sentence a black mass tackles him to the ground. Where he stood was now a bubbling pool of goo that it's claw had formed and released. Opening his eyes for a second Derek looks down to see Cynder now lying over him. Both Human and dragon had deep red blushes forming as they quickly got back up.

When they did they noticed that the creature wasn't where it was. A door just off to the side was ripped off its hinges as yells and screams rain out.

"GO!" Derek sprinted as fast as he could. Even after running for several blocks he still felt his adrenaline pumping. Jumping up to the door he and Cynder both look in complete horror.

At least 5 bodies. Four full size and one small dragon lied sprawled all over the room. Their eyes completely black with slime leaking out like blood. A series of OS dotted their bodies with dried traces of blood remaining. Barely visible traces of blues, reds and greens were a solid gray were all that could truely tell them apart.

 _"Blood Drainer…"_ he whispered looking at the smallest dragon. They were much, much smaller than Amy dragon he had seen being here so far. It's wings were just tiny flaps with horns as sharp as a plastic knife.

 _'They were just a baby…'_

The thought ran a cold chill down his spine. It was the clear work of a Blood Drainer. Similar to vampires they suck out all fluids of its prey till they are drier than a dessert. After consuming all liquids they wound use their prey's corpe as a means of disguise till their next meal. They were the one type of monster that the Ghostbusters litteraly exterminated off of Earth whenever even a rumored sighting was found.

"Derek!" Cynder called out. He quickly rushes over to see what she had found.

"Look…" she pointed at the ground. Pooling in small puddles with a massive streak a large red blood stain covered the road before them.

"Dear God…" Derek stepped over the stream.

"There's more." Cynder said looking over at another massive pool forming in a dip in the street. She wanted to hurl at the sight but was able to keep it held back.

Derek plucks his radio off his belt. "Derek to Rachel, coming. We have casualties in the building I entered across from you. And possibly more to come. Tell Leo… we got a Blood Drain on the run." He finishes by clicking it back onto his right strap. Taking a look right grip on his thrower his right thumb flicks the mode dial. The cyclotron switches from a cycling red to a pulsing green when the reservoir, a small glass tub in the Booster Tube, popped up.

"Come on." He doesn't not at his but Cynder got the message. In a second they both break out into a sprint beside the trail. Every few times they glanced into a side street the saw more bodies. Leaking black slime from their eyes with blood all around them. Derek didn't want to think about it. It reminded him too much of a past event. Before Infestation or Shandor.

Rogers voice called on the radio. " _Derek, you got me?"_

"Copy. What's your current position?"

" _Look Up_." Doing so he could see the red underbelly of Ecto-2 hovering above him. On one of the legs he could see Mike hanging out the door. Spyro was holding onto his belt while Mike aimed his particle thrower.

"Roger, give us some light. You see it on radar?" On command the search light at the head of the chopper beamed down the road.

"Try not to look straight up!" he shouted as they hooked a turn. They saw the green glow of the creature running straight at them. Both take aim, Derek quickly charges a large slime mine that is instantly rocketed to its torso. It tries to dodge but gets its entire right arm covered, howling in pain as the positive charged slime disintegrates the black slime. Cynder takes her open shot with a massive acid cloud that, with the speed of her Wind element, hit with enough force to knock it to its knees.

The spotlight from the chopper blankets them in light as the flash if blue light from the main road came past the builds. Rachel was weaving Ecto-1 towards the two as she bared right. Blocking off on of the side streets. The second set was followed by the massive red and white body of Ecto-7 that, even at its size and speed, stopped hard enough to drag the trailer over to block the road. Both Jack and Leo stepped out from the cab with a Protonix Pack and Slime Blower. The roof hatch on the trailer's roof vioiletly pops open as the brothers take aim. Ben was wearing the Boson Pack again with a set level 10 Dart building up. Rachel stepped out if cadillac with both her thrower and the rifle at hand.

The creature looked around. 3 of its paths were blocked and the damage done by the slime mine was starting to get to much. It wasted most if it's energy running away but still had a little left. To its left it saw a small opening between the builds. But before it could make another mad dash a large cable dropped from the air. Mike quickly repels down with on hand hand his gun and another on the cable. Spyri himself swooped down and landed beside him. Fire was seeping from his maw while Mike held his thrower hot with Stasis.

It was completely trapped. All routes were blocked. It looked all over. It knew it couldn't attack or flee. But when it looked down at its feet, it saw its way out. A storm drain cover was a foot away from its current position. Using all its sights it looked at each Ghostbuster and Dragon. In one swift move it lunges forward. The sudden movement was enough to make everyone unleash hell.

Slime, acid, bosons, fire, stasis and proton streams all lite up the area in a heavy bombardment of energy. This went on for a few moments until mostly everyone's packs shut down to vent. Once the firing stopped everyone looked at the now destroyed location. Cautiously, all the dragons and Ghostbusters walked up to the place were all out chaos was at ground zero. The ground and stone was torn up or smashed by the sheer force that was upon it. Around the iron cover was a small residue puddle that was mixed with slime, blood and other liquids from the creature.

"Did we get it?" Danny asked as he kneeled down with his thrower closely.

Both Derek and Leo pull their Pkes. The wings all shot up before they started to slowly descend. "No. It's down there moving away."

"It's in the sewers?!" Spyro shouted in disgust. Leo bent down, swiping a scrapper through the blood and examines it.

He looks back to Derek. "If those tunnels lead all over, than it has a direct highway to every home in this entire city."

"Like a cop in a donut factory." Jack added. There was a long, deep silence from the team. Thinking over what the outcomes could turn out to be.

"I'm going down there." All eyes spin back to see Derek clip his thrower. "If we don't stop it before it feeds again. God help this city."

At that he starts walking back to the main road where Ecto-7 was parked. The dragons were dumbfounded at his remark as the remaining Ghostbusters stood there with blank faces. But inside, they were all concerned.

* * *

 **With a flash of light, the legend was born again. Out if the darkness, they**

 **came to save us all...**

 **Yelling the name, the name everyone knows...**

* * *

The story continues,

The Blood Drainer is actually based on the Black Slime Elemental from the Wii version of the video game. The first idea of its abilities originally came from both movies The Thing and The Blob.

Now if you're thinking about what Roger said about Ghostbusters 8, it's pretty much because it's 2019. The 2016 Reboot and another film were made during the time the Protonix Team was in service. As for the 8, There's the original, GB2, The video game which is considered GB3 and takes place 2 years after GB2, Sanctum of Slime which takes place in 2010 but is a continuation from The Video Game (GB4). The Reboot which could be considered GB5. The new RPG game that is actually a Sequel to the Reboot (GB6). GB7 would be any other movie made during 2016-2019. So it would now be up to GB8.

This event will span 3 chapters at most and will contain heavy amounts of blood and slime.

Until next time in Chapter 15: _Down Into Darkness_

 _"You know this place reminds me of Shenanigans." Yep, that exists._


	15. Down Into Darkness

Chapter 15: Down into Darkness

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Note: Has a huge piece if PGB history.

* * *

No one said a word as their leader disappeared into the trailer. He was already gearing up in more padding over his body with guards covering his chest. His pack now covered in a tarp that only went as far as the cyclotron to keep anything from falling on it. Clipped to his side was both a Proton Rifle, that sat just above two Sabar traps and a Pressure Trap that was hooked on a bracket with a pistol on his right leg in front of his Pke meter.

His suit was quickly swapped out for a yellow hazard suit that resembled the Reboot suit. A full mask respirator hung from his neck as he strapped a modified hard hat that was connected to a set of ecto goggles. Once he checked that he had everything he needed, he threw on the pack and head to the front. As he was about to leave Rachel dashed up the ramp. "You can't go down there."

"And who would, Izzy? She's not here and we don't have much time. The more we stand here the more we give it to hunt." He starts heading towards her.

"Is this about Lisa than?" Derek stopped. Rachel knew she hit a nerve that very few know the effect of. He stood there for a moment. His eyes closed tightly, trying to push the memory away.

"I know you want revenge. But going after that thing won't make a difference." Her eyes were that of pleading. Derek sighs before looking back to her. His voice was went from is usually to a hardened tone.

"We'll discuss that, Later. Right now we have a job to do." He walks past her without another word. Stepping off the side of the ramp he runs chest first into the dragons. Shaking off the collision he looks down to the purple dragon.

"We're coming with you." Spyro bluntly says. Derek was surprised at the his direct word.

"Absolutely not. You don't know what a Blood Drainer can do. And we don't need more casualties."

This made Spyro almost feel insulted. "Hey! We can do this if you like it or not. It's our job to protect this world likes you do for yours."

"Yes, I know that you saved everyone here from total annihilation. But the paranormal is a completely different league." Derek pushed by the two dragons. Heading towards the sewer cap that got ripped off by Ecto-1. Standing next to the hole Leo was quickly setting up 3 Pke Disrupters around the area. When the scientist noticed him he got up from his spot.

Both walked over to the cadillac where a map rested on the hood. "Alright, if this map is up to date like that mole that gave us is correct, you shouldn't have much trouble navigating the main tunnels. But be aware, there are at least 4 dozens side tunnels that spun off. And avoid holes in the ground. You don't want to fall into a possible sub-sewer."

Taking in the layout of the tunnel he turns back to the hole, only to see Spyro looking back up to him. "You might think we're just crazy. But we're much smarter and older than what you think. We can handle ourselves in a fight." Cynder nodded in agreement. Looking around for a moment he reaches down in his pocket. Pulling a nickel out from one.

"Call it. Heads or tails?"

"What?"

"Just do it." Derek said flipping the coin in the air. Grabbing it in time he covers it over his arm.

"Uh… Heads?" Derek looked under his hand.

Heads.

Derek face palmed. " _God dammit_. Alright fine, Spyro you can come. It's best to have less things you have to look out for."

Neither dragon said a word before be slapped his mask over his face. Climbing down the large hole into the ground. Spyro looks back at his friend who had a worried look written all over.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. What's the worse that could happen." He gives his wings a good flap before literally back flipping into the hole.

 _"More than you think_ …" Cynder whispered as she headed back to the truck. Inside the sewer, Spyro landed in a muck of unbelievable things.

" _Oh God_ …" he shivered at the touch. The filthy water went up to the base of his legs. Just nipping his under belly. His nose cringed at the harsh environment.

"This is why we wear knee high boots." He looked over to see Derek leaning against the wall. If it wasn't for the mask blocking everything except his eyes he would see a huge smirk. Stepping off he leans over the edge, reaching a hand out that the dragon gladly takes. In a hard pull he brings Spyro up to the side of the platform that aligned the sides of the drainage.

"Alright, Close it up!" Derek shouts. A second later the cover was slowly dragged on. Sealing the pair in darkness. Reaching up to his shoulder before the cannon he sparked his spot light. Instantly the entire tunnel was filled with light.

Pulling out his meter he pulls his goggles over his eyes. "Let's go."

Slowly the two start the walk. The sounds of the meter buzzing, claws and boots on stone and the timely dripping pipe was all that they hear. Derek made sure to watch where he went. Staying close to the wall while glancing at the Pke. The display screen showed a low pulsing red bar graph that spiked every so often. Spyro just kept as close to the Ghostbuster as he could. Eyeing everywhere the spotlight could reveal. The stench continued it's assault in his nose to the point that he started to regret coming. Looking up to Derek who just stared down at the meter, he looked over the mask that let out a gasp every time he breath.

"How come you're fine with this?" Spyro asked. Derek looked down to him for a moment before lifting his goggles.

"What do you mean by that? That question could have so many answers I don't even know where to start."

"This smell. The whole, underground chasing a deadly monster set up."

He taps on the mask. "This helps to block out stuff too strong. We can handle foul vapors a lot but sewers are an exception. And the whole monster hunting is a heavy must."

Pondering for a moment, Spyro thinks back to what he and Rachel had argued about in the trailer.

"So who's Lisa?" Derek stopped dead in his tracks. Spyro knew he probably shouldn't of brought up the topic. "Was she a team member?"

Derek pondered over telling him or not. It was the kind of subject that the very mentioning would change someone completely. He looked down at Spyro. He could tell by the he look in his eyes that the dragon was just slightly younger than himself. Youthful but yet been through a lot. A sigh muffled in his mask as he started forward again.

"No, she was my older sister. Just by 5 years." Spyro made a Oh with his mouth.

"What happened? Rachel said something about you getting revenge for her against that monster."

"* _sigh_ * Blood Drainers are a rare but yet deadly kind of slime entity that we didn't really know about. It resembled a Black Slime Elemental, a kind of creature that can draw from residual energy. We first encountered them during just our second official year in business in 2015. It was before we fought Shandor but we were already up and going.

One night, after I finished up a taking the night shift, since there's 8 of us at the time we divided up in fours. I didn't get any calls so I turned in. It was around say 3:00 am, I get a call on my cell phone. Turns out, it was my father in my hometown. It's just south of the city of Pittsburgh where I first ever started ghostbusting. He said… he said there was a problem with Lisa. I didn't get much of it, but when he mentioned a black liquid, I instantly packed up and took Ecto-1. I didn't tell anyone else but say that I got a emergency call.

When I did get to the house, God knows how many people were there. The house looked like area 51 on a Friday. The moment I pulled up, they cleared out the driveway, I got out, suited up and went in. When I did… I just…. Froze.

Laying on her back, 11 feet above the floor was my 26 year old sister. Police, Firemen and Medics were all around the place trying to figure out what to do. So on instinct, I pulled and hosed her down. It took a moment but she finally did come down."

He paused for a moment to let Spyro understand up to the last point. "So she was possessed?"

"No." Derek said with a heavy hint if veinum. "If she was, it would've been easier. When she came down, doctors examined over her. Her heart was too slow and she wasn't breathing. They took her in a vehicle to the town's hospital. I followed closely with Ecto and my parents.

When we got there, they said she was in isolation. I went there even wearing a pack. God knows how many people gave me a strange look. I got to her room, and it was complete chaos. Doctors and nurses were running all around with soaked towels and tools. When the head doctor saw me he grabbed me by the collar and pulled me inside.

Black Slime, it was literally leaking out of her with blood onto the bed. Many of the doctors were trying to stop it from leaking out of a wound on her arms. But I know for a fact that they weren't there when at the house. I pulled and fired up my proton pack again and slimed her. It helped a little with the problem but left the room a mess. Once the doctors stabilized her, I walked out of the room trying to call the others. When I did, I told Leo about the situation and told him I needed them here.

It wasn't maybe morning when a nurse came up to me in the waiting room telling me Ecto-2 just landed on the hospital's roof. Roger, Leo, Jack and Rachel all piled out of the chopper with who knows how much equipment. I just lead them to Lisa's room where the two started running bio and Pke checks. Say, 3 hours later, they came back out. I was sitting there, still in full uniform with my parents and my sister's husband, Scott, eating breakfast, we did pull a all nighter and I didn't really sleep for the past few days.

They found an unknown energy mass inside her. Later that day they took Lisa back to New York, I told them I'll meet them there in Ecto-1 with the others. Several doctors from the hospital came along to because they would want to aid in the situation. When we did get back, he brought her to the lab and put her in isolation. Leo went on about explaining that the presence of black slime mixed her blood was something never heard of in the GB lore. Remember, most of our knowledge is based on fictional stories, so this was completely new to us. Mike was able to pull a few strings and allow the Pittsburgh doctors to stay at a nearby hotel with others from around the city.

We originally went on the idea that this, mass was a direct cause of the slime. So we started taking blood and fluid samples and did tests with different slimes we had with other mixtures. But during this exact time though we were getting swarmed with calls of blobs, ghost and animators. Like that rock monster we fought. Time wise, we couldn't afford to stop tests and definitely not let anyone go near the basement."

"Why the basement?"

"We were still in the early stages of getting our containment unit up and running and there was highly sensitive equipment everywhere. Plus construction wasn't done on the storage rooms. So in turn, we broke up the team. Me, Leo, Rachel and Jack all worked around the clock while the others were handling the calls. Around this time is when we actually hired the rookies, or now the Rogue Ghostbusters, to help out. Going into a month now, this started to change. Very badly.

Leo was able to zone out a cellular mass out of Lisa's blood. It was black slime alright, on a microscopic level it was a infection that was eating away at her body's energy. Or if you want to go there, her soul. We estimated it was probably in her for over two months as it is. But that was just the start of our problems. Many people began to questioning why there was so much activity everyday at the firehouse.

It quickly got to the point where news stations, people who gather info about things, tried coming up to us whenever they had the chance. It was either walk up to the front door or fake a call just to get our attention. The city's law enforcement was ordered to stay in check with the eight of us and follow us to jobs. They set up a wall, literally, a wall of police, SWAT vehicles and even the National Guard. Part of the country's army. This didn't stop people though. Helicopters, like Ecto-2 would fly over the firehouse, even hover at a distance to get news.

As Month 3 came in, and I don't know who or how, but word got out about her condition and the world blew up, Figuratively. Everyone was in mass panic that this would be the new black plague of the 21st century. We managed to get the situation under control, it wasn't spreadable because there wasn't any way for the infection to get out.

During one day, it was Monday, July 3. Scott, my brother in law from my sister, came up to me and asked if we could talk in private. Away from the others. So we went down to the containment room. He turned to me and said; ' _Derek, you're gonna be a uncle_.'

I didn't react in joy or happiness. Fear was flooding in faster than anything on earth. Lisa's infection, if you put it on a scale one to ten was past 6 and going up fast. She was a month pregnant when we got her to New York. So during the two months being there, the infection spread across her entire body. We doubled down on trying to protect the child. Even if it wasn't formed yet the slime could kill it in a instant.

6 months. 6 _damned_ months we busted our asses trying everything to reverse or stop it. The whole thing became international News and put more stress on us than we ever had. The Rogues were struggling to keep up with the workload because all of us were trying to find a cure. The end result was a modified version of Mood Slime that, when mixed with positive slime, can literally destroy the black slime cells inside her. We did several tests before coming up with a final result.

A few weeks before she was due, the infection had rapidly grown. It was threatening her brain cells and the baby do we did a emergency C-Section. Basically, you cut open the stomach and pull the infant out. He was severely underweight for a newborn and was barely breathing. Once the doctors took him to another room they both got checked up and cleaned. Once it was all side and down, I walked in her room. The thing itself was filled with flowers and gifts from random people who left it on the 'fire ghost logo' on the sidewalk from the original building. I came in, holding a syringe full of the first slime batch we made. Leo told me to put it through her arm since it would disperse through the body faster. Estimates on how long it would take effect were non existent since it was only tested on small samples. But the formula had proven in each on that it worked. We still had a chance…

...She died 45 minutes later. Still holding my hand with me slumped over the bed. I stayed there until the others came in. They all had the look of guilt and defeat, like you were just fighting a battle you worked so long to win and all a sudden it's gone. The baby didn't make it either. The infection was too much for his body to even attempt to fight against it. After hearing it, I just, broke. I couldn't cry, yell out in anger or anything like that. I just stood up from the bed, placed her hand by her side and walked out. None of them tried to stop me. The moment I stepped out that door, the entire building went quiet. Everyone just looked at me. The only thing anyone could hear was the sound of machines beeping or humming. I headed for the main staircase to the garage where my bike was. I got on, opened the main doors.

I got swarmed by reporters from probably every city in the northern hemisphere. Everyone yelling out questions. Once the police got me free they have me a escort. They already knew from the news going out the radios. I left the city, heading out back to Pennsylvania.

The funeral happened two weeks later. So many came by to pay respects. I didn't go, in a away. Everyone thought I was either in Pittsburgh or back in New York. In truth I was on the hill just across the burial. I couldn't watch our failures. We closed down for maybe 4 weeks before business went back to normal. They all tried to get me to move on. I would either do as much work in the lab or go out on solo busts. Since then we've refined the slime heavily to have a greater effect against infections."

Spyro didn't say a word. He was too busy comprehending everything Derek just told him. "So what you did to Terrador, would of been like the cure for your sister?"

Derek nodded, "Correct. But the research was so rushed we didn't get every detail right. 4 months later when we did get it right we made massive amounts. That slime blower we used on Terrador has a separate tank filled with it. And just as a backup, we sent several units of it to hospitals across the Northeast. Just in case it was to happen again…"

Spyro looked up at Derek when he trailed off. Slowly raising his goggles off his eyes they were completely fixed on what was in front of him. The moment Spyro looked too, his breath was caught in his throat. A large, black figure stood in the middle of the tunnel blocking a large portion of the light. A outline of deep green could be seen being disturbed by tiny strands of slime.

Spyro leaned over and whispered, " _What do we do?"_

Slowly, Derek put his meter down on of it's holster. Reaching back he carefully pulls his neutrona wand. " _We hit it, Hard."_

Flipping the dial he switches the pack to Stasis and Slime. " _No fire or heat. We'll end up blowing this entire place up."_

Nodding Spyro prepares his ice element. Both take aim, and fire. Two blue beams of energy race at the figure but the monster rapidly moves away. Derek quickly breaks out into a sprint after it, firing a stasis stream that lite up the tunnels in a blue light. The creature dodged the beam.

"GET BACK HERE!" His voice echoed. Switching to slime blower he tries sending baseball sized mines into it. Some managed to latch onto the Drainer but do very little damage. When the monster dashed down a side branch, the dual didn't see that the edge was broken off. The two stumbled off the side into the sludge. But when they did hit it, it felt more like a solid than what the rivers were. Focused back at the creature they watched it pass a large metal gate that blocked the tunnel before disappearing in a collapsed arch way.

Walking up to the gate Derek reaches around and pulls out his meter again. "Interesting… take a look at this." He hands Spyro the meter. The display screen was flashing a combined pink and yellow as he inched closer to the gate.

Looking back up he gave Derek a confused look, "And what does this mean?" He didn't know how the equipment worked or how to even read it.

Derek chuckled ever so slightly."It means that we're in the witch's lair now."

"What does that have to do with the monster?"

Derek facepalmed, "It means that there is now so much ghost energy here, the world around us is being altered." Pulling his radio up closer he opens the channel.

"Derek to Leo, come in." he waits for a moment before he a voice came through.

" _Did you get it?"_

"Ah, we're betting 500. This thing is really moving fast and it went off into an enclosed area. Check my tracker, where are we?"

Ecto-1

As Leo looked back over the map with a flashlight, he switched his meter out to the tracking scanner that was linked to each proton pack. When he did however, it only showed 7 out of 8 active. Tuning it to Derek's signal with a map of the sewers, he found nothing.

"Derek," his voice was slightly concerned. "Derek, your tracker is gone."

 _Sewers_

 _"I tried adjusting and boosting the signals but it didn't work. But if I was to take a guess, a wild one at that, that you're no longer in the city."_

Slowly looking away from the radio his gaze met an equally stumped dragons.

" _Is there anything around you that can help identify your location?"_

"Give us a moment." Looking around he tries to find something. Walking back to the corner of the tunnel he heads back towards the junction. Meanwhile Spyro, using just the Pke meter as light, looked around the gate itself. The wings continued to spike as he waved it near the corner. Walking near the frame if the bars his front claw had rearer back. The sound of metal against claw (or whatever claws are made of). Stepping back he uses his free arm to wipe away the dirt that covered whatever hit him. Sure enough a small sign

 _Gate Locks #3487_

"Hey Derek!" Spyro shouted. Shouting at himself that he shouldn't of. He turned around when he heard running books against the stone.

"Find something?" Spyro points at the sign. Flipping on the radio again Derek reads out.

"Leo, we're at Gate 3487."

" _3487… 3487…_ " The radio cuts out as Leo looked for it. " _Derek, I don't see a Gate 3487 anywhere on this map."_

"Alright thanks Leo." Derek lets his arm drop from his shoulder. "Like I said. Altering the world around-"

* _Black Slime Ghost scream*_

Before either of them could move or even open fire, a black mass splattered out of the debris. Behind it was two long blue energy flows that twisted around each other. The two both get their backs to the wall as the ghost disappeared around the corner.

Once I was gone they looked back to each other. "Somethings trying to stop us, we must be close to something."

Walking up to the gate door he goes to grab the goo covered handle. The second he applied force to it the welds instantly broke off the plate.

"Well that's just nice." He said tossing it behind them. Looking over the door.

"Hmm… get a load of this." He glances to the dragon. "A rusted spring on a cracked frame that if hit with enough blunt force could break the- WOAH!" He jumped back as the door was quickly covered in thick layer of ice. Looking back he gave Spyro a stern glare.

"Go on, shot it." Spyro stepped back as he examined his work. Derek looked over the wall of ice for a moment before he finally got the idea. Getting a good stance he switches if the slime blower so that the Stasis had full power.

In a sizzling kind sound he lets out three full sets of the dark matter. The first barely got much. The second heavily cracked it and the last caused the iron from to shatter like glass. Stepping over the bottom bars he slowly walks up to the debris filled tunnel. When they were just a foot away, he gently placed his hand on a jagged piece of stone. When Spyro jumped over the bars he brought the meter up to the wall. The wings flew straight up with the display now flashing pink. He didn't get much of say, or even a warning before Derek started sliming the stone. Backing away from being cover Spyro watched as the walk became more cracked with the stone shifting. After a few seconds Derek vents the pack (you can do it with slime blower too.) And step up to the pile.

"Hmm... That's weird. It should of discharged the negative effects holding it here and vanished." He hits the base with the tip of his boot. Spyro waved the meter over the rock for a moment while Derek tried to pull a slab out. Suddenly the Pke rapidly buzzes as the green display switches to a solid red.

"Ah Derek-" Before he could say the Ghostbuster rips a massive chunk of rock out of the wall. The entire pile shifts as loud but yet low groan fills the air. In seconds the tunnel itself felt like it was spinning around with stone falling from around them.

Derek ends up falling onto the wall."Earthquake?"

Using his Earth Spyro feels around the ground for what was the cause. To his dismay, he couldn't locate the source. The shaking becomes more violent as bits of the wall began to crack up. Suddenly, a large portion of the wall fell inwards. Derek was sitting tight on top of the collapsing rock as he got pulled in.

"AHH!" He quickly grabs on to the edge with his right hand. Letting his thrower fall in the pit. The quake became more violent as he tried pulling himself up. Struggling with the rocks falling past him. He gets his left arm out of the hole and tries to pull out.

Spyro rushed forward, Dropping the meter to grab his hand. "Hang on!" He latches his claws onto the pack's straps. But the combined weight was too much for him to pull. His only body was slipping against the ground as Derek started to slide back down. Another sharp jolt rocks the wall causing a much bigger piece of fall onto the pack. It gets caught between the reservoir tube and Derek's head as it yanked him down. Spyro's quickly loses his grip on the straps as Derek's head disappears. Lung forward he tries to hook his hand but just skinned the glove.

"DEREK!..." Spyro's voice became more distant as darkness consumed the Ghostbuster.

 _Spyro_

 _'Oh man, Oh man, Oh man_!' The thought ran through the dragon's head like rush hour. He barely saw the lights from the protonix pack as they faded away. Gut instinct told him to dive after him. But his mind told him that he didn't know what was down there or where the monster still went. Looking behind to the blasted gate was. He quickly placed the Pke on the side walkways as he sprinted to the gate. Breaking a piece of the iron he runs back to the debris. A simple plan he had was to just to carefully hear the bar so that it glowed when he dropped it down to try and see.

But once he rounded the corner, it felt like reality had just stopped. The blocked tunnel was now completely cleared of debris and extended into a new tunnel. This one was much more rounded with metal covering over brick. Torches gave off a eree pinkish color was it went down some before bending at another corner. Dropping the bar he slowly walks up to where the Pke sat on the stone. Picking it up he watched the wings reset themselves as the bar graph became a white color. The baseline was just barely nipping a third light.

"Great. Derek's missing and I'm lost in a sewer. What else could happen…" as if answered, Spyro's right claw collides with a small gray object. Reaching down he plucks it off the ground and turns it over.

 _'Derek's radio?_ ' He thought looking at the device. A sudden a thought hit him.

 _'Oh man… not only is he gone but now he can't call the others…'_

He looked down at the walkie talkie, trying to figure out how Derek used it before. Turning it to the side he saw a main switch, a knob and a red button. Placing his smallest claw on the button he gently pushes it down, a audible click filled his ears as different sounds emitted from the speaker.

Bringing it closer to him he tries to get through, "Hello?"

Waiting for a moment he hopes for a call. Doing so again two more times but with no answer.

" _Great_ …" he mutters. Letting the button go.

As he did Leo's voice answered, _"Derek? Where happened, we lost you for a moment."_

'Oh thank ancestors…' "Leo, it's Spyro."

" _Spyro? How the hell did you get a radio? Where's Derek?_ "

"Ah…" he tried to think of what to say, "After he called you there was a earthquake and he fell down a hole. I got sealed or something then this tunnel came."

" _What tunnel?"_

"I… I DON'T KNOW! I had my back turned for a moment before it just, appeared." he let Leo think over the info.

" _Alright, listen Spyro. Your out of our range of us even trying to locate you so it's up to you. If the radio doesn't work than you're most likely out of range. Use the meter and try to find Derek. It should locate the pack's beacon for you to track. If it's turns red then run. If orange stay clear. Good luck. Call if you need anything."_

At that Spyro didn't know what to do. Leo was honestly asking him to go find Derek in a random tunnel network with just a meter. At the moment though, Spyro didn't have much to say about it. Sighing he reluctantly started down the tunnel. Falling his wings so that he was just a few inches off the ground. Allowing him to hold the meter in one claw and the radio in the other.

* * *

Not really the best chapter, but this is meant to set up for what is to come.

Spyro takes his first steps like a Ghostbuster, there is not gonna be a city standing after this.

The 'Fire Ghost' is a actual art piece on the corner sidewalk of the 8 Hook & Ladder firehouse.

Lisa's death is actually one of the biggest turning points for the Protonix Ghostbusters. Because the fact that what they knew was changing in a way that they couldn't stop or even helped it. This is why Rachel is very protective about Derek. Why he has a much more aggressive part to ghostbusting and Leo for his dedication to the science. The reason how her death and the Blood Drains will be explained next time.

The full real story will be explored in Protonix Ghostbusters: Shadows of the Past

Until next time in _Chapter 16: The Message._


	16. Sewer Escape

Chapter 16: Sewer Escape

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

AN: In just over a month from now the movie 32 years in the wait is coming. And in just two days that 32 years will be remembered as the day Ghostbusters, the ones who started this, will be celebrated by many who follow ghostheads

As an addition to this anniversary, the first real story of The Protonix Ghostbusters will be released on June 8th with 2 follow up chapters, a new Non related GB story and a update to another.

* * *

 _Derek_

 _Some time Later..._

Popping one eye open, Derek takes a look at his surroundings. The damp darkness was the only real thing visible if it wasn't for the thrower's lights illuminating the room.

" _Get told not to fall into a hole… and what? You fall into a hole…"_ he muttered as he got up. Grabbing his thrower he examined it for a moment before looking around. There wasn't any sign of debris from where he fall or even a hole that he could see. Reaching behind him he tries to find his spot light switch. Only to feel a jab of glass touch his hand. Sighing he flickers on the flashlight that as strapped to his straps. The light was much weaker than the other but it did provide enough to see the chambers a lot better. The tunnel was much more abandoned than what he first say up top but the tunnel itself was bigger than what it was meant for.

"Dammit. Leo you there-" he reaches up to where his radio is. Or was in this case with now a torn pocket and hat held it on the straps.

"GOD DAMMIT!" He yelled out. Quickly covering his mouth, or mask to try to silent himself. Bending down he scoops up his helmet and goggles. Giving it a few wipes before placing it back on.

"Damn… gonna have to be careful." Switching to full Stasis he heads down the narrow hall with his thrower held close to his person. The hall itself reminded Derek of some of the old tunnels he and the others had found when they discovered the reservoir under central park. He goes to grab his meter, but pulls back at remembering he gave it to Spyro back up top. He still has a EMF detector and an toxicity sampler (or the belt Gizmo).

The sensor had stopped beeping since he fell down. He takes a quickly glance at the device that showed a single blue LED. If it was orange and a solid bar, than it would be to lethal for anything to breath. Taking a second he clips the rifle back on the belt. Making sure to just keep the safety on he pulls down his respirator to where it dangled on his neck.

Derek takes in a long, deep breath of the air. It wasn't the best air, but it was easier than a tight mask. Pulling the goggles back over his eyes he switches to night vision. The screen is switched out in the dark hall to a brightened on with a shade of green. There circles day in the middle of the display with a mini bar graphs on the far right. Both green, red and yellow were all spiking but to his surprise was fairly weak.

Taking a turn a thought pops in his head.'This is definitely like the lost island'

It was just like it. Separated from everyone with threats that can come out of nowhere. Giving one last check of the air he switches out of full slime to the particle stream. The activity itself was stranger than what he would think. The only thing so far was a single ghost, not even a Class 1. Blood Drains were high Class 5s. And even at times of feeding, Class 6s. The most effective way was to usually stay at a distance and slime it. If not then freeze it and unleash anything one could before overheating or breaking free. Rounding a corner he steps into a much larger pathway that fan across the tunnel he was in. It was much larger than the main sewer he was in before. You could fly a small plane through it with room to spare. There was many several holes that darted all over the place. Most were either sealed up by a stone wall or collapsed to the ground. Looking down the shaft he tried to see the end. To his right, the tunnel banked to the left and disappeared. To the right the tunnel expanded further on. Zooming the ecto goggles to max didn't help much at seeing what was down that way.

He knew three things. One, find away out of here. Two, find Spyro. And Three, find out where the Blood Drain went. Taking a step out so that he was in the center his foot slushed into a stream that flowed down the bend. It was just up to his toes and was more like a trickle. Gut instinct for ahold of him. Sub sewers would continue on until they eventually dumped into a outside river. But this tunnel alone was probably as old as Warfang itself. The river could be dried out or the tunnel could be sealed and he would be trapped. But he couldn't stop from trying, it didn't stop him before and it wouldn't either this time. Staying close to the center of the streams Derek heads down towards the bend in the tunnel.

There wasn't much to look at in terms of interest. His flashlight and pack were the only real source of sound or light-

" _If there's something strange, in your neighborhood. Who ya gonna Call? Ghostbusters!"_

His Iphone was going off. It was playing the Real Ghostbusters theme song in a much more 8-Bit tone. He was lucky that no one was really around to hear but the echo. Reaching into his chest pocket he unzipes the zipper and pulls the vibrating phone. Tapping the answer he brings it up, "Hello?"

" _Derek_!" Jack's voice called out.

"Jack? How the hell did you get to my phone?"

" _Leo's trying to boost the communication signals. Our phones are working just as fine as they were on Earth."_

Looking down for a moment he checks the signal. "Damn four bars in a another universe. Have you been able to get contact with Spyro?"

" _Yes, actually. He's tracking you with your Pke meter. But the signal between you guys is getting scrambles by something."_

"Is there a way you can patch me through to him?"

Jack didn't respond instantly but got a answer back, " _Give us a moment."_

 _Surface_

"To the Right! A little more…. Keep going-TOO MUCH!" Mike didn't have a moment before he fell off the roof of the truck. Leo had everyone not doing anything trying to position a track marker that would hopefully locate the others.

"Leo…" Mike said rubbing his head, "where in the name of God did you get this?"

The scientist was typing away at his lap while he sat on the bumper step. "When the military helped clean up they gave us a few things."

Jack came walking by with two spools of cable. "But a prototype ground radar?" He dropped them at his feet."Next you're gonna say that they gave us a tank."

Leo didn't really respond. Instead he focused back to the computer. "It has its uses."

Going over the settings he double and triple checks everything. Normally he would have the satellite on top of the firehouse and tons of equipment to work with. But this time he had to go for modifying the dish that was part of the trailer's roof rack.

"Alright. Let's try it." He flips a switch as a low hum sounded.

 _Spyro_

" _Spyro, you copy?"_

"Yeah, I got you."

Spyro didn't know how long he had been walking/flying. His sense of time wasn't the greatest but he knew it was longer than what he thought. During so he had covered a heavy distance from the sewer gate. Now he was zipping through a whole series of tunnels with very little idea as to where he was going.

" _Alright. We managed to get through to Derek."_

His eyes lite up in worry. "Is he okay?"

" _He's fine. But according to him he's in some kind of sub sewer further below you. We're trying to patch you through to him directly."_

It's takes a few moments with the sound of static filled his ears.

" _Spyro, you read me?_ " Derek's voice came through.

A sigh of relief filled his tired mind. "Thank ancestors you're alright. Where are you?"

 _"Well, that's a bit harder to explain_ Is the tunnel you in rounded and could fit the semi?"

"Yes."

" _And is there on the ground two metal rails and that's running the length of the tunnel."_

"Yeah. How do you know this?"

"..."

"Derek?"

" _Leo, remembered the November Parade? After the road collapsed and we closed off the city block."_

 _"Yes_?"

 _"I think this might be another manifestation of the river."_

"What river?" Spyro asked, wonder what the two were talking about.

 _"It's a possibility that the large amount of spiritual energy in this world, in addition to the black slime, that it's causing the world's between them to draw it from something in our world. What both you and Derek are in is a ghost world look alike of the pneumatic transit system."_

"A what?"

Derek speaks up. " _It's a means of transport under the ground used in our world over a hundred years ago. It got cut off from everything else and was thought to be lost. In 1989 when the second movie about the original Ghostbusters came out it had the famous River of Slime filled with Mood Slime that flowed all over the place. When we discovered the reservoir under the city a few years ago we found out that there was a much larger network of these tunnels. Many of them were sealed off or destroyed but somewhere flowing right into the lake. We dammed them up to try to stop it."_

"So let me get this straight. I'm standing in a place where there should be a raging river?"

" _Yes_." Both say in unison.

"So how do we get out?"

" _The tunnel has gaps or stations chambers all over the system. If you find one that's not blocked then you should be able to find another path or another tunnel that can lead to you too the surface."_

Spyro's brow rose considerable. "Wait, what about you Derek. We can't just leave you down here."

" _Spyro you need to get out of here. I have the firepower to deal with what's running around in here but you don't. Just use the meter, Leo can guide you back to the surf-_ " Derek's voice was cut off by a wave of static.

" _God dammit!_ " Leo shouted. " _We lost his sig-_ " Leo's voice then cuts out.

Static filled the air waves as Spyro looked at the radio. Pondering what had taken out their contact. He tried turning the dial but was met with just more static. Picking up on what Derek said he quickly picked up speed, Searching for what Derek said was a station that would lead to another tunnel set. During his little time here he did already passed several possible stations along the way but each once was completely blocked or the actual tunnel got a larger chunk of sections missing. He was getting tired of it, it was honestly a maze that no one thought would see the eyes of any one else.

Not looking away he watched as the meter began flickering between white and now pink. Just like in the sewers he kept his eyes open for anything that could be out of place. When he flew past a collapsed wall, the pink bar spiked the highest before dropping again for being too far. Spyro twisted his body around to head back, and with little thought smashed horns first through. The falling rock did little to stop him as he entered a much small tunnel then what he was already in. The detail of the structure was surprisingly more visable than previous ones with several reds, whites and greens that painted the arch ways. Ducking past a collapsed support beam of one of them he makes his way into a chamber that was set just off to the side of a new pathway.

It was a much older version of the subway tunnel with the station only having only access point. The tunnel further away from him was completely sealed off with debris piling out. Most likely from the result of a cave in. The tunnel across from him was thankfully still intact. Taking another look at the meter he watched the left side of the screen lite up in a half white. Floating over to the arch way he could just barely read a plate that said 'Beach Pneumatic Transit' on a dulled out bronze plate. He didn't pay any real attention it but the new path he was going. The tunnel extended some meters back before banking sharply to the left. By now the torches that gave the place the only source of light was now long gone and Spyro had to really on his fire breath for guidance. Keeping a low bright flame just locked in his maw without burning the Pke, he zipped around the bend in the tunnel, going some distance before being abruptly stopped.

Completely covering the pathway was a single piece of stone and that molded into the tunnel wall. It don't so to be placed or even be damage from the tunnel itself

" _Great_ …" He muttered at the stone then to the meter. "Gotta find away around this." He turns around to head back, but is met with the sight of another stone wall.

"What the…" he runs a claw over the surface. It didn't feel fake or anything. He glanced back down to the meter, the white bars were higher than they were yet. When he pointed it towards the way he came the drastically dropped. But when he pointed it towards the first wall it buzzed before flashing. The bars were rising higher and higher. The center bar hit the top as the entire right side of the screen began to become white.

Derek was getting closer to him.

"Ready or not, Derek." He said getting into a ready position. Tucking the items below his wings tightly he scrapes his front claws once. Angling his head so that his horns were directly forward he started sprinting as fast as he could.

"I'M COMING THROUGH!"

 _Derek_

The situation itself wasn't going to good for the human either. He tried recalling anyone but ended the up with just static. Then again, he was in a underground tunnel. Making the matter all but feel ironic to him. Truth be told, it wasn't the first time he got separated without any communication. Given the fact his phone seemed to work in some way he really wasn't cut off. But the fact that Spyro was missing, he was pretty sure he was now a couple of miles away from Warfang, underneath it or not, and that a massive manifestation of something from the past was, ironically, a haunting reminder.

" _I damn swear_ ," he muttered just enough for himself to hear _. "After this I'm taking a vacation to Florida…"_

 _Bang_!

A sound echoed through the tunnel like a wave. Derek instinctively stopped in his tracks, switched to a full four way cross mode of the primary fires. Looking around he looks at the direction he came and back ahead of him. He didn't see anything that he didn't see before he walked through.

 _Bang_!

The wall across from him jolted in a web of cracks. Some material fell to the ground with dust and dirt rained down from the ceiling.

 _BANG_!

A large slab jolted out of place. The wall itself was beginning to bulge out as chuckes gave away. Not knowing what was on the other side, Derek backed as far as he could to the opposite side.

 _ **BANG**_!

The wall explodes in a cloud of rock and dust. Kneeling down Derek had no choice but to use his thrower as a means of protection. He felt several shards hit his hazard suit and pack with several clanks against metal. Once it bad settled enough he stood back up in a fighting stance with the his thumb on the trigger. The dime flashlight peered into the newly formed hole. Almost immediately he saw movement in the rock.

"Spyro..?" He lowered his gun as the dragon shook his head clear if rock. When he heard Derek's voice he looked up with relief in his eyes. He reaches a hand out to help him up. "You alright?"

"I'm fine… just a little dizzy…" he holds a claw to his head. Derek all but chuckled as he gave him a little pat. "I followed the track into a tunnel that got sealed off. When I went back the way I came in it was blocked. Like nothing was ever there. When the meter was freaking out I figured and hoped you were close by. And smashed through the wall." he gestured the mess behind him.

"We must be close to something. The activity itself is getting worse and these tunnels are changing." Derek flips his goggles back down and walks towards the direction he was heading.

Spyro looked back at the hole he made. "Where are you going? We can escape."

Derek slows down but doesn't stop. "With the level of black slime we've seen here we can't afford not investigating." Walking further along the darkness soon wrapped over him and the tunnel.

The only light the dragon could see was the blinking lights on the pack that seemed to over power the environment. Looking back once to the hole and down at the two devices in his talons, a deep sigh escapes his muzzle. Flapping his wings some he glides towards Derek, hovering just to his left.

"Here, figure he might want these back." He holds out the Pke and radio. Reaching over he clips the radio in a pouch on his belt. Using his free hand he takes the meter in front of him while still holding the thrower in the other.

"Thanks."

After a few moments of silence that was met with the sounds of the meter buzzing, clicking boots and claws, and the clear sound if the tunnel groaning, a clear sign that the structure was just ready to give. Both were keeping a close eye on the screen as the green bars were slowly spiking higher up as they went. Sometimes they would stop because the screen would flash red or orange for a moment before going back. The tunnel itself started to change around from the old subway to a much more defined man made facility. Pulling his goggles off Derek slowly walked down the corridor with the Pke making the only real source of sound. It wasn't long until they finally rounded the corner that was branched off from the main tunnel. And when they did, their jaws dropped to the ground.

"Oh… my…" "God." Spyro finishes. The same look plastered over his own face. They both slowly looked at each other before turning back to the sight. All around them was a vast pool of slime the size of possibly time square. Mounds of dark crystal laid half sunk in the lake of black slime with fountains of the stuff shooting up from varies places. Reaching back, Derek slowly brought his phone back up.

"Come in, Leo. We found something."

Leo's voice finally broke. _"W_ _hatcha you find?"_

Turning the phone on its side he switched to video feed. He lowers it down to Spyro who takes it in his claw.

"Fly around the place if you can. Just make sure that little black dot is facing out." Spyro nods once before taking off towards the ceiling. Making sure he holds the phone tightly he panes across the room, making sure to get the general size he looks back to Derek.

"You seeing this?" He called from the radio. Waving at the camera to get a better size comparison.

" _Dear God… it's like the Reservoir._ "

"Only that this is much, much smaller and under dragon city."

As Derek continued to talk to Leo over the radio, Spyro went ahead and scouted out the area. He made sure to stay hugged to the roof of the chamber as he filmed. He didn't really know how to work it, but he didn't care. Flying past a set of pillars he soon ends up at the far back wall. As he got closer the wall itself became more metallic with the pillars becoming plated with iron plating. But something made him stop dead.

"Hey Derek! You might want to see this!" "Coming!" the sound of his boots clipping off the stone path and equipment gingling echoed for a moment as he dashed down a old iron cat walk that spanned across several parts of the lake. Walking up beside him Derek's attention was taken by what the dragon had found. Written in a way that someone would desperately claw out something to pass info, the statement on the wall was questionable.

'" _The Message That You See Is Not For Your Eye, Only When Darkness Can They Come Alive_." Derek said out loud. Looking down at Spyro whome just shrugged he goes back to the radio. "Leo you get this?"

" _I never heard of anything like that befor-_ " his radio is filled with silence.

"Leo?" He taps the radio a few times "Leo, you there?" No response. Slowly Spyro came back to his side on the ground. "Something bad is about to happen… I can feel it." As if it wanted to be known, the screen on the Pke rapidly flashed red, maxing out the display on a solid color.

(Black Slime Roar)

"MONSTERS!" They yell in usion. Spinning back They watched as the sea of crystal goo began to morph in front of them. Derek quickly flips into Stasis Stream and starts firing away at the closest creature. His Ion Cannon still in its upright position dropped down in a blast of mesons. Spyro had quickly jumped into the air, getting back up towards the roof he watched Derek fight. He knew from where be stood he would be surrounded and the cat walk as the only way back to the tunnel. Twisting around so that his claws were pointing up, he stakes them into the stone and begins pulling. At first nothing really happened but in moments the stone began spider webbing out cracks around his talons.

"HEADS UP!" He swung the boulder down.

Derek quickly dodged to the left as the rock smashed down at several monsters. Crushing them back into the black pit. In seconds another came crashing down. Spyro was making haste work at making it rain stone as he used his own Earth to shatter more and more of the ceiling. The path was quickly cleared as Derek sprinted back, destroying any monster that the rock missed or was trying to reach for him. He makes it just in time before the walk way gives out from under the weight of the slime. Doing a quick vent he switches out to proton and starts chipping away. Back in the air Spyro swoops down past Derek, killing a monster that tried to sneak up from behind. Inhaling deeply he lets out a fire Fury. The flames like a wave scorch over the slime causing it to bubble up before it either collapsed or reformed.

When a monster got to close he blew out a wave of Earth that pushed back then back at a distance. Derek for the time was getting close up and personal with them. Having Boson Darts erupt from his shoulder with a Slime Blower/Shock Blast tandem take down. Sliming them down enough to where just one or two blasts would kill it.

Despite their combined force, the room around them was rapidly becoming over crowded. "DEREK!" Spyro yells over the noise as he shot a wall of Earth at a cluster. "DOES THAT TURBO THING ON YOUR PACK WORK WITH EVERYTHING?"

 ** _Ch-ooooommmm…_ ** "YEAH?" without receiving a notice Spyro quickly jumped behind him. Once Derek realized what the dragon was doing he manually vented out the cores. In a white flash Spyro unleashes his lightning element almost at point blank range of the pack, causing the green and red cores to glow in a bright bluish white. Quickly swamping out the cannon he puts all power towards the slime blower. The moment he hit the primary fire a fire hose erupted out of the nozzle. The nearest monster was instantly destroyed with others falling all in its path. But they just kept coming. Every monster that was destroyed either reformed, merged or was replaced by 4 more. In seconds they were swarmed by large slime abominations.

"THERE'S TOO MANY!" Derek cut the flow of slime.

"RUN!" Spyro let go of his powers as he high tailed it out the way they came. Derek quickly blasted away as he tried staying with the dragon. He didn't bother looking back at the sound of what could be considered a tidal wave roaring through the chamber.

Spyro yelled back."What the heck is that!?"

"No time! Keep running!" Derek said sprinting past the dragon at unbelievable speeds. Spyro takes the hint before he pushes himself faster.

The adrenaline was going through both of them unlike anything before. True there was those moments, but what was happened was much more higher up. Without knowing it, they speed out of the corridor and back into the tunnels. They didn't bother thinking on where they were going but instinct told them where. Rounding a hard bend they pass by the station they met in. Spyro easily jumps the platform up the staircase. Derek tries to make the jump but gets his right boot caught in gap the rock. Landing forward he tried to stop himself from face planting but tenses up when a jagged rock hits him directly in the knee.

"AHH!" Derek falls to the ground clutching his leg. He tried to stand but his body didn't let him. Spyro saw this in the corner of his eye. Looking back he saw the wall of slime roaring towards the ghostbuster. Acting swiftly he runs back towards Derek, leaping into the air before his claws clamped down on the jumpsuit.

"Woah!" "HOLD ON!" In seconds he quickly took flight back down the tunnel. Derek tried avoiding getting hit by his tail or rear claws as he faced the wall of slime still closely behind. Reaching out for his gun he flips the vent switch and starts firing a stream of slime. The stream does very little to even stop the wave. Spyro himself was busy trying to fight off small blobs that were forming ahead of them. He would use his ice, since they were back in the sewers, to freeze out what Derek could finish. In time, they made it back to the sewers. The sudden stench hit both of them hard but they ignored it. Trying to remember what he could the purple dragon weaved around the corners of the system, avoiding surges of debris, stone, sewage and slime.

In time, they made it back to the sewers. The sudden stench hit both of them hard but they ignored it. Trying to remember what he could the purple dragon weaved around the corners of the system, avoiding surges of debris, stone, sewage and slime.

"HOW CLOSE ARE WE?" Spyro yelled backing to the right. Derek quickly switched out the Pke's displays.

"It should be any moment- Here!" The light of the cover beamed down into the tunnel. Spyro flies up to the platform and drops Derek back on his feet. Clipping the gun he races up the latter to the cover.

He pounds against the iron. "LEO! LEO GET US OUT OF HERE!" No answer.

He tries to push the plate off, but was met with a massive weight pressing back. He knew for a fact and just by seeing through the holes no one or anything was on the lid. Stepping down the latter he could easily here the slushing sound of the wave surging from both sides of the tunnel. A breeze was blowing past them with a unbelievable smell. Then it hit him.

"Spyro, get on!" Without much direction he climbs onto Derek just how Cynder did when they rode on the bike.

"Cover Your Eyes!" Spyro quickly does so. Again switching modes Derek looks back up to the cover and the two walls rushing at them. Aiming down at the sludge river he powers up a Boson Dart. " _Jesus Christ, I hope this works."_

 _Some time Earlier..._

On the surface, everything was much more quieter. The crowd that had formed around the team had long sensed left for the night leaving the team alone to work and wait.

Over at trailer, Rachel was sitting at the foot of the door. Leaning back against the Ecto-X1's rear tire as she looked up to the sky. The night in Avalar was much more clearer than on Earth. No massive skyscrapers or foggy pollution clouds. Her thoughts were still focused on what Derek was doing at the time. Cynder couldn't agree more. She, instead looking at the ground, laid on the roof just above the Ghostbuster.

"So…" the dragoness hangs her head past the edge.

"So…?" Rachel said. "How is it living here? In this world I mean."

"Well. It has its boring and interesting times. But overall, it's just… normal."

Rachel chuckled, "Normal, eh? Can't remember the last time I had that."

Cynder perked up. The way that Rachel has said that statement made her know something was bothering her. "So what's it like in your word? The way you've described it it has it's mixes."

"Well…" Rachel pondered on where to begin. "It has it's light side and dark side. There's people who would do anything for someone. People who would kill just for something as little as maybe a cigarette. And then there's those who would help for a moment and move on. New York, Oh New York, compared it to here and you have very little competition. This place is So much more different."

"Yeah. That's what I thought when I came here for the first time with Spyro."

Rachel looked up to her, "You two seem very close. Giving what history you have together."

"He's like a brother to me. He's there to help whenever…" Cynder's thought drifted out.

"Whenever someone would rub the past in the dirt?" Cynder gave a nod. " Figured that was why Derek kicked that dragon's ass. He's very, touchy, when it comes to the past."

"Is that why Derek got mad when you said about Lisa?" Her eyes popped out. If she had a drink it would be all over the ground now. She didn't know that Cynder over heard them.

"Yes… it's one reason why. But even earlier did it start. In school during our younger years he was the butt of every joke some wide ass cracked in class. It got worse over the years. Derek's good at hiding his anger, but when he snaps," she looks out in the distance as a dramatic effect. "My God help who ever just pissed him off. But when he got into busting, he changed."

"When you mean changed..?"

"Well, whenever everyone in high school found out he was a Ghostbuster, he did become a laughing stock. During the school's annual sports event happened and Derek destroyed a monster in front of dozens, Maybe a few hundred, they shut up pretty fast."

* _chuckle_ * "I bet that was a fun time."

"Well it's hard for a World Cultures teacher to explain about the 1980s when you have Derek fully dressed up in his suit sitting in the front row."

"Why would he be like that?"

"Because after the monster event and announcing his secret he got a lot of people calling him for jobs. It would be the middle of third period and his phone would go off every few minutes. Sometimes he would get up and walk out the door to his home and go to where the call needs him. I remember this one time where he left at start of first period and came back covered in slime at lunch. Not only did he clear the room but he did it in under 10 seconds."

"BWAHAHAHA!" Cynder rolled on the roof holding her side. She imagined him walking in the room just drenched like earlier. "Hehe...man I bet was funny to witness-"

 _Clang_

Both turn towards the direction where the metal was hit. "Who's out there?!" Rachel yelled out.

" _Crap… There is no one here_!" A female voice said trying to sound spooky.

" _Just us ghosts!_ " a male voice said followed by the sound of a slap.

Rachel looked at Cynder, the dragon had a devilish grin that was enough for her to get the idea. Reaching back she pulled her thrower as the dragon disappeared from her view. Up on the roof Cynder was in her shadow form looking over the edge. Weaving past the truck she quietly reformed behind two small dragons that were crouched beside the wheels. Walking up like a predator about to pounce, she gets

" _Boo_."

The second her whisper met their ears, the two jumped off the ground and ran. "AHHH!"

But to their fault, they end up running across the back of the trailer. One ends up getting their clam jammed underneath the metal door, causing them that fall flat on the ground. Once the dragon was revealed by the light, Rachel looked down at the orange mass with curiosity.

"Flame?" She slipped the gun as he got up.

He waved a claw. "Ah… he-he… hi."

"What are you doing here?" Cynder asked walking from around the side.

"Well… when everyone was going g crazy I want to buy neat the action! And when the Ghostbusters started kicking the things butt I just want a front row seat!"

Rachel raised a brow, "Do you even know how dangerous our work is? A family just died tonight in vain and we're stressed enough on getting it."

The statement did put a dampener on Flame's joy. But only for a moment. "Well I do know. And that's why I want to know all that we can!"

"We? You're the one who dragged me out here." A female voice said walking out from the other side.

"Ember." Cynder said with a hint of venom in her voice. The pink dragon wasn't really fazed by her. Instead she walked up beside the fire dragon.

"Since earlier you guys are the only thing he's talked about since. 'What's it like to bust? Do you guys get to see famous up people? Are you afraid of ghosts?" The last one made Bucker a little irritated. That question went against the whole idea of 'I ain't afraid of no Ghost.'

"So you want to learn about being a Ghostbuster?" Flame perked up faster than a dog hearing a magic word

"YES-"

* _Gigantic Explosion*_

The entire area lights up in a cloud of orange flames. Everyone turns and watches as the entire street explodes in a cloud of fire and stone. The metal sewer cover is shir through the air before falling just feet away from them. It collided with so much force, the first half disappeared into the street itself. Just in moments to shadows came flying towards the group. Skipping off the ground twice before stopping.

* _groan_ * "Oh… maybe that wasn't such… a good idea." Derek panted as he rolled Spyro off him. The dragon rolled back over to his left as he uncontrollably coughed.

"Yeah…" Spyro groaned.

Once the smoke had died out and the fire was now burning in a tower of light, the ghostbuster and dragons quickly took notice.

"DEREK!" Rachel and Flame yelled as he dragged her protonix pack of the floor. Running over as she tried strapping it on.

"SPYRO!" Both Cynder and Ember yelled. They quickly follow up behind the human, not before exchanging death glares to one another.

Getting to his hand and knees Derek saw the trio raving to them. "Guys! Get Back!"

As if by command, the ground began to violently shake. This time however everything around could be seen moving. The alarms on all the cars started blaring as bits and pieces of buildings fell into the street. The street around them began to crack in large seems as the fire plume behind them changed from a bright orange to a dark purple.

 _Ghostbusters TVG: Fight Loop 20_

A tower of Black Slime erupts out of the hole. It quickly grows in size as three sets of arms peeled off the main mass. At each end was a green orb of energy that were seeping with dark energy. Several massive tentacles arched out from it's back with much smaller orbs. At the base of the monster was a bubbling mass of slime that would put old Faithful to shame.

"What the hell is that?!" Spyro yells as a bright flash of yellow erupts from it's head. It's focus now upon the 7 Ghostbusters and 4 Dragons. A large beam of light engulfed around them as Roger hovered above them with the underbelly guns lighting up.

"That my friend." Derek says as he reboots his pack. The sound of 6 more followed. "Is a Slor."

* * *

 _ **Ghostbusters!**_

 _ **They're here to Save the Day...**_

 _ **Ghostbusters!**_

 _ **They'll blow the Ghosts away…**_

(Protonix Busting: Protonix Ghostbusters Theme)

* * *

 _The Plot Thickens_.

Had to cut off the right to just get this done. Had a heavy idea of how this would contribute to much later on the story to even connecting into even other possible PGB stories.

The mixing room was originally meant to be a underground moslem that looked more like a massive prison that was built into the sewer. But I didn't know how the basic setup would be so I went to the mixing room in the GB Video Game of the Lost Island and the tunnel network under the museum.

If you played the game then you'll know how in the museum level when you go to fight The Chairman you navigate through a maze of tunnels. To put the idea of this in the story, imagine Derek walking at the bottom of the main tunnel while Spyro wandered through the size tunnels that are also the same ones used for the River of Slime.

The Monster fight is still a Blood Drain/Black Slime Elemental but is much more charged with slime that it could grow. The ultimate form for these are a Black Slime Behemoth. The boss monster uses in the Wii version instead of the Slor.

The reason why Spyro was able to find Derek so fast was because he was covering ground much faster by flying through the tunnels as opposed to Derek who was in a central tunnel but on foot.

Until next time in _Chapter 17: Night of the Slime_

" _Get told not to fall into a hole… and what? You fall into a hole…" Derek and his Hole_


	17. Night of the Slime

Chapter 17: Night of the Slime

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

 _Ghostbhsters TVG Fight Loop 20_

"That my friend, is a Slor."

The dragons couldn't believe what they were looking at. It was something that belonged in a horror story that teens would tell to scare others. Except this wasn't fake, and it was scary. It's body continued to twist and turn with tentacles coiling around its body. The head, from what they could see on the ground, slowly looked down to them. A deep slitted green eye looked down at the Ghostbusters, rage and anger was just cutting at them. In a swift motion it Yanks it's upper body back. Tearing a massive hole in its torso. But the side said hole didn't split in half, instead three rows of teeth made of pure slime jetted out followed by 3 snake like tentacles.

(Think of the grabbers on a Garbiod from Tremors.)

"TAKE IT DOWN!" Mike yelled out firing a proton stream. The others quickly joined in as they let loose their own beams. Derek was firing all three of his guns (the cannon, double barrel thrower and rifle) with Leo and Rachel beside him doing the same thing. The Smiths both let out a rapid tag team set of mesons that painted over its black body. Jack was the only one using the slime blower in full force but wasn't reaching the need areas to deal damage.

In the air, Roger quickly switched out the settings from proton to slime for the underbelly cannon. The cannon was different compared to the Ecto-4's gun and was a massive version of Derek's shoulder mounted Ion cannon. Within a second of switching out two fire hoses of green goo blew from the barrels. Being higher up he was able to land a heavy hut on the monster's head, causing it to reel back in pain.

"Oh YEAH!" He smirked as he turned the chopper so that it was directly above it. Opening the valves he released the construction line that force the slime out to where it could flow freely like a fountain.

The constant spray became over whelming to the monster, it looked up with all eyes as the two streams cut off to regenerate. Jumping forward it lashes out with its right arm/tentacles towards the helicopter. Roger could barely see the limb wrap around the landing bars (no idea what they're really called) before a massive jolt rocked the Ecto. Alarms sounded as several gauges began going crazy. Lose of stability and lift was causing the chopper to start falling from the air. He tries fighting back, pulling the chopper away so that he could break loose.

Watching it struggle the Slor wraps a second tentacle with the first. The extra limb causes the entire vehicle to violently shake as it got pulled closer. Acting quick Roger swaps the modes back to particle stream and yanks back the trigger. The cannon jerks around as it fired the Twin beams at the creature. The sheer force was enough to cause it to let go of the chopper but because of him pulling back on the controls roger caused it to almost fish tail in the air. But thankfully he was able to prevent it from losing air.

Shaking his head for a second he loojed back down at the monster, anger was evident. "Okay slime bucket, lets dance." He gripped the trigger tightly. But before he could fire, Derek's voice bloomed from the radio. " _Roger, Keep your distance!"_

Reaching down he plucks the mic off the control board. Not bothering with his headset. "Yeah... copy that." Letting the mic drop he pulls the handle back. Slowly the chopper began to pull away from the monster. It tries to hook the bars again but is hit by a large slime mine that explodes at the head. The monster roars in pain as it retracts it's tentacle back into its body. Looking back down its vision was blurred as a blast of white and orange came into contact with its main eye.

"Bulls-Eye!" Danny yelled as he vented out his pack. Ben landed a quick fist bump but had to quickly dodge as

"SCATTER!" Rachel yelled as everyone did so. And their timing couldn't of been better, the monster reared its stomach back before spewing a flood of black slime on the street. Everyone had to take a larger step back as they tried to slime the expanding pool. They manage to keep it from getting closer but still had a large part remaining near the monster.

"Anyone have any ideas?" Mike asked looking towards Leo and Derek. Both were staring deeply at the monster, scanning over the different limbs and eyes. But as they did they failed to even realize that it was rearing back again. This time however, instead of a flood it came as a large blob that raced through the air.

"GUYS!" Rachel tackled them both from behind. Causing all three to fall forward. The dragons that stood behind them quickly ducked their heads as it sorted by.

Covering some distance, Danny was now in its path. He had ran all the way over to the trailer when he noticed that the blob would continue until it hit directly in the middle. "Oh, HELL NO!"

Danny ran in front of the blob and opened up his blower to full force. The blob rapidly disintegrates before it could hit him or the trailer. Once the alarm sounded that the tank was running low he let go of the trigger. Looking behind him he smiled at the still clean vehicle.

"DANNY!" Mike yells as he tried to shoot out one of the glowing eyes. "FORGET THE TRUCK AND HELP ALREADY- WOAH!" Mike gets sling shot backwards into a store front. He collides with the various items before smashing cleanly into a stone wall.

Quickly getting to his senses Derek took a double check around before focussing back to the Slor. Looking at the others he quickly formed a battle plan.

"Ember." He looked to the pink dragoness. "What's your element?"

"It's uh, lightning." It seemed like the answer he wanted. Smirking a battle plan quickly formed in his head.

"Alright, LISTEN UP!" He yells put and with his radio on. "Roger, keep your distance and pepper it with Bosons. If you see anything we can't take. Report it or take it down."

" _On it."_

"Mike," he looked around for his cop. Mike, hearing his name in the radio, struggled to get up from the rubble he dusts himself off himself. Tugging on his radio he answers, _"I copy."_

Back over to the rest of the group Derek caught sight of him, "Do what you can and keep people away from here as far as you can. Direct them or scare them just don't harm."

" _Crowd control. Got it."_ At that they watched him run off down the street to where spectators were watching the whole thing. Now it was just the four dragons and six remaining Ghostbusters.

"Alright," Derek said doing a quick reset on his pack. "Ember, Spyro, stay on Leo's and Rachel's six and be ready."

Both dragons look at him in confusion.

"Their backs! Get behind them." They both nod as they jumped behind the two. Spyro stood behind Rachel with Ember behind Leo. "Spyro you know what to do. Ember, build up your lightning and be ready to fire It at Leo's proton pack."

"Danny, Ben, Jack." He calls out to them. "You're gonna be decoies. Flank around, aim for the eyes and do as much damage as possible."

He doesn't say anything else before the three let loose their slime blowers. Jumping between full stream to at times to full sized slime mines the size of medicine balls. Watching as the three spread out, he looks back to the two remaining dragons.

"Flame, Cynder," they both perk up. "Rain down Hell on it." Both dragons looked at each other before they grew a devilish grin. Spreading their wings out they took to the air and zipped over its head. It tries to grab them but us met with a mix cloud of acid Cynder showered down and a fireball that hit the base of where it was connected. The force caused it to rear back as it screeched in clear pain. But to add salt in the wound the limb was purely destroyed by a combined slime stream from Danny and Jack.

The limb collasped to the ground in a large _splat_ that was quickly hosed down from Roger hovering just above. "- _And another one bites the dust~"_

Everyone who had a radio all looked up with the look of 'what is he doing?'. _"Is he really doing that?"_ Jack asked from the other side if the line. Paying no heed to it Derek just shooked his head before looking back at the two pairs.

"Ready?" He steps beside Leo's left. Switching from proton to the Electron Beam. The others quickly swapped out modes into full proton. Flipping the vent handle on their grips they both cause their cyclotrons to jet out in a tiny puff of steam.

"FIRE!" All five of them let out hell. The dragons doing as told let out two full Furies of lightning. Both made contact with the cores as the two's throwers both erupted in a massive twin pair of lightning like streams. The only difference from the two was that Leo's had a pinkish hue to it with Rachel having a purple. The pair was greeted with a bright blue bolt that strange enough dwarfed the two particle streams.

Derek smirked as he looked to his right. Both Rachel and Leo had a scolding look on their face. "Sorry, mines bigger!" They rolled their eyes. Spyro over hearing the pun wanted to snicker but couldn't risk losing his concentration. They poured out as much as the could as the pie graphs on their throwers dropped from just 20 out of 25 bars to now 12.

The alarms on all three protonix packs sounded as Derek shut off his gun. "Save them!"

The others follow in suit as the cores all vented. Spyro and Ember both drop to the ground in heeving piles of exhaustion.

Rachel looked over her shoulder, "You two okay?" She asked as they each have a nod. "You two stay back and gain some strength. We'll take it from here."

Neither dragon complained as they took in much needed energy. The Ghostbusters quickly split up as they rushed in different directions, peppering it more with various weapons. Lashing out with both tentacles and surges of black slime it tries to make a hit on one of them but they dash away.

But when it went to just all out smash down its entire body, it could feel two beams make contact with the back of its head. It twisted it's eye around to find where the hit came from. Then it felt it again, on the opposite side, it's limb was being covered in a thick crystal layer. Lashing out with two tentacles they smash the rock from its now free limb. But as it did it could feel it's other arm start freezing over. It tried to break it as well but realized when hits first arm was solid now.

Wrangling around the frozen appendage Danny tried yanking it away as Ben continue to freeze the break point. It tries to pull away but is jerked back by Danny. The unstoppable tandem was too much as in one hard slam the entire end of the limb holding the eye broke off from the Slor and fell to the ground.

"BOOYAH!" Danny yelled out as the eye shattered like glass.

Black slime began to rush out as it tried to plug up the missing ending. Danny and Ben both cheered as they ran to cover. Completely missing a attack from a flying blob. The brothers both looked back with their throwers over their shoulders, firing their streams that hit the injury. The effects didn't hold long as more and more slime kept breaking up the crystal.

Jack however, was on the other side of the monster trying to land a heavy hit on the second eye. He had managed to get some just around the limb but he had to hit it dead center to destroy it. Back in the air Cynder was having trouble trying to have a cloud of acid to cover the orb but kept missing with its sporadic movements. Flame was doing better in the area of scoring hits but lacked the damage he needed.

In the corner of his eye he watched as Jack struggled to dodge the attacking limbs. Missing another lash out as he dived behind a destroyed wall. But he miss did his five as he landed hard on his shoulder. Banging his head of the ground that now left a large cut across his forehead. It's stomach mouth began building as the sign of more black slime about to blow out became evident. Acting quickly he flew down towards the Ghostbuster, avoiding several blobs as he went straight up to him. Hooking his claws around his proton pack's straps Jack looked up in confusion.

"Hang on!" Flame flapped as fast as he could to avoid the wave of slime that now coated the area where Jack once stood. As he flew upwards to where he was he kept his distance as Cynder had unleashed a log bank of poison that covers the entire upper body.

"Cynder!" He yelled getting her attention. "Form a acid cloud with Flame's fire attack!" Doing as said the dragoness quickly built up a thick wall of green particles that surrounded the monster.

"Flame," the fire dragon looked down to the human. "Muster the strongest fireball you can make and aim for the eye." The dragon closed his eyes as he quickly built up the biggest blast he could. Holding down the third fire Jack watched as the small ball of slime at the end of the blower built up to the size of once again a medicine ball. He had to keep it low to avoid messing with Flame's fire. His maw looked ready to explode as his cheeks became a deep rose red.

Once the slime mine was charged he asked, "Ready?"

Flame gave a weak nod. "Fire!" He launches his slime mine.

Flame drops his maw open as a torrent of fire shot out from him. It raced like a rocket through the air as it pasted through the acid. The fireball took on a heavy green as it sailed past the cloud. Jack, focusing on the fire launched his mine as the two projectiles both took a direct hit.

The combination of the slime, acid and fure made incredible work as its became a bubbling mess that collasped to the ground. It was ultimately finished off when two sets of slime mines rained down from Ecto-2. Nodding up to the chopper as a thanks Flame swoops back to the ground just enough for Jack to dashed to where the brothers had gone for cover.

Now the center eye was all that was left. And it was the Originals turn to rain down the hell. Doing a quick vent to make sure the three took their positions. Both Spyro and Ember, exhausted from the heavy use of lightning took a few steps back as the three lite up their guns. All three sent out a skirt of green slime up at its head. The Slor was now in full panic as it felt the slime rapidly eat away it's body. It's energy was growing weaker by the second each time it ejected more of its own slime.

But the ones on the ground weren't the only ones. It could feel the constant bombardment from the dragons and helicopter as the air borne attackers didn't stop.

"Crazy Idea!" Derek swapping modes to his proton stream.

"Cross stream Boson?" Rachel added as she too fired.

"Do it!" Leo joined in. Slowly drifting their streams together they began to over lap each other in a coil as the 'focus point' began building up in a bright ball of light. The three separate beams quickly merged together as one a single massive stream, easily double the size of a lightning stream was cutting away the slime. Everyone stood back some distance as the monster frantically tried to move away from the beam. Turning around so that it's back hit the beam

Derek watched as the pie chart above his thrower had reached the last red mark. "Get Ready, on 3."

They all put their fingers on thrir Secondaries. "3!" They fire three simultaneous bosons darts. The three blasts of energy quickly surged into the ball as it now rocketed towards its head.

Firing the shot they watched in almost slow motion as the monster turned it's head. It's green eye looking straight at the projectile, shrinking in fear as it made contact. It went clean through the eye. A orange ball continued to sail past it before dissolving away. Everyone stopped firing as they watched the creature. It stop making any sign of movement, that was until it's body began to shrink down. Several parts of its body fell apart and collasped into puddles of slime. As it lost more and more mass the team quickly slimed the remains.

"Look!" Leo pointed to the bubbling hill that was all that remained. The pile was slowly rising as it started forming into a humanoid form. The Elemental didn't move from its spot. It's green eye was now a black orb that was leaking slime down its chest looked forward to the group.

Rachel groaned at the sight it still standing. "Why won't this thing die?!" She looked to Spyro who just shrugged.

As they watched from the ground Flame and Cynder were finally g'.tting in a breather. Looking at each other they nodded in a way if saying 'good job'. In the corner of her eye though, the shadow dragon lookwd down from behind the creature. The slime at its feet was rising on its back with several spikes poking out. "Guys, Watch out-"

Her warning as cut short as a set of black tentacles erupted out from it's back. Neither dragon had time to react before two tethers wrapped around their bodies and slammed them down to the stone. The ground cracked and disformed as they both made two perfect out lines of their bodies.

"FIRE!" Derek shouted as the three of them fired. But what happened almost mirrored the battle with Vigo as it going its arms out. A litteral wave swatted the three busters from where hey were standing. The blunt force of a car hitting a wall was what could be compared to them hitting the ground on their packs.

Spyro, standing far back enough to avoid the hit quickly build up a rock wall on front of him to block out the attack. But to his dismay several tentacles raced across the ground and hooked is feet. When he felt the give each leg a tug, his eyes widened twice their size.

 _'Oh boy._..' he felt himself become weightless.

"WOAH!-OMF" He hit the ground beside where Cynder and Flame were. Looking around it saw what it's work had did. Most of the Ghostbusters were incapacitated or away from the fight. Three dragons were barely holding on to conscious leaving just one left.

With that in mind, it turned towards the small pink dragon still standing. It's eye shifted from dead black back to its toxic grern.

"Guy!-" she was cut off as a massive force came charging from behind her. She could feel her talons leaving the ground but her wings not flapping. She tumbles twice before hitting the ground in a small puff of dust.

"Ooh... that hurt." She says rubbing her head. "What was- AHHH!" She screams as a black liquid impacted her side. His vision was filled with the Elemental's bright green eye.

It was getting weaker by the second. It lost most of its energy just by the lightning streams and constant sliming and trying to fight back. It needed to feed, and the dragon in front of it was the easiest target right now. Reaching down it flexed it's right claw. Using it's left to hold her down as it started digging away from her pink scales.

"EMBER!" Flame watched as she tried to scream but couldn't get the sound out. The claw continue to try to dig into her side. Flame flies straight towards the Elemental, but before he could land a hit it let it's free hand practically move across its back. Swipping him away like a bug. He tumbles through the air before colliding with Jack and Mike ran over to help. The force they met knocked all of the air out of their lungs. Turning back to the pink dragon it saw that it had finally broken through. All it had to do was to bit down and drain her.

 _ **BAM!**_

Derek came running up from its side and delivered a hard soccer punch to its head. With the lack of his battery gloves the hit wasn't really powerful to cause real harm. But with the level of rage and adrenaline pumping he was able to force the monster off of the dragon and set back several feet.

Shaking off the hit its attention was turned back to the Ghostbuster. Only to have its vision blocked out again by another hit. Despite its size Derek was able to land several hard blows to its head and torso. But when he went to deliver a right upper cut, he was grabbed around the arm by a black appendage. The Elemental swings back its arm, sending Derek flying through the air is it let go.

Landing some distance away face down he slowly got back on his feet. But when he looked up he saw nothing but a black claw reach around his face in a almost death grip and pull him off the ground. Slamming his body off the stone behind it. When it let go, Derek felt all the wind rush back into his lungs as fast as they could take in. Looking to the ground he saw his thrower was sitting just four feet away from him. He tries to reach out and grab it but us stopped when he's pushed down onto his right knee.

He swore under his breath for a second about not having his joint pads on at the moment but looked back to it's claw clenched out, drawing it's 4 dagger like fingers out. It dropped him to the ground, he could barly catch himself from falling until a sharpness force his body down.

" **AHHH**!" It's claw dug deep into him. The sheer pain was like lava evening dripping onto bare skin. It easily cut through his hazard and jumpsuits and his under shirt was just as easily sliced open. He could feel the skin start to become wetter, he was bleeding significant at each movement the claw made. Each time he tried to move away it just shoved him closer to the ground. Eyeing his through at sat on the ground he tried to reach out to grab the handle or hose. Every inch he moved brought more pain but he was able to nip the slime tubing and drag it over to him.

Just it was going to clamp it's jaw down on the open wound, Derek brought his thrower up to where it was firmly pressed against its chest.

" _Go back to Hell._ " He said through his teeth he triggers the third fire. Quickly a slime mine builds up at the tip of the thrower that instantly made contact with its black slime. The sudden touch causes it's eye to grow in shock as it jumped away. Dropping Derek to the ground in a loud thud with the slime mine being launched.

The mine impacts directly below it's eye as it screamed in pain. It was the only and last one. Derek could feel a unbelievable burning on his left side. Looking down he could see a several large gashes through his hazard suit with blood gushing out. Looking back he saw as the monster tried to wipe away the green goo, how could it still be alive even after what they just threw at it. It was at the point that it had gotten on his last nerve.

Grunting through the pain he sits up and wobbles back onto his feet. Using his thrower as a support, he took it back in both hands and aimmed. Switching to a cross mode of Slime and Proton.

"Hey!" The creature looked at him. When Derek saw the black slit of its eye, he fired the dual streams that hit their mark. Both practically punched a hole straight through its torso as it desintergrated. It tries blocking it, but both its claw hands are destroyed from the slime. Stepping closer with a painful limp Derek gets within ten feet before the pack vented itself out. Once the streams were cut the monster stumbled back before falling on its back. It started gasping, like a person trying to take in any air possible.

Flipping the modes back Derek went back to the Electron Beam. Switching to a charge build up that would mostly be used to heavily build up a force behind a set weapon before being fired. Holding his finger down on the secondary fire he began to build up a Bolt Ray. A nuclear powered tazer gun that was like being struck by lightning at close range. Tightly holding it to his chest he limped over to the monster.

Looking up its mouth dropped open. " _ **You..."**_ Derek stopped dead in his advance. Everyone present looked at the fallen monster in shock.

It actually spoke.

" _ **You... are the ones..."**_

"What do you mean, the ones?!" Derek yelled out. Pointing his thrower closer to its head.

 _ **"The Ones... that shall have the darkness... released..."**_ Everyone looked at the monster. It's words were quickly flooding in as they tried to think over its words.

Derek just shaked his head. "No. Not Now," he put the tip of the barrel just inches from its eye, "Or Ever."

 ** _SPLAT_**

The discharge of electricity surged through its body. The entire eye down past the shoulders was now just a black spot on the stone street.

Taking in a deep breath Derek took a step back. He watched as its body soon collasped into a pool of slime. The others came running up as the area was blanketed in a spot light from Ecto-2. Ben and Jack quickly hosed the pool down before it could reform.

"DEREK!" Rachel came running up to him. Carefully clipping his gun back he greeted her with a weak smile.

"I _'_ m _... fine_." He said but almost lost balance. Rachel quickly hooks her arm under his right side to prevent him from falling. Looking back towards the building he saw Ember still laying motionless. "Get her to the truck fast. She needs medical attention more than me."

Leo quickly dashed over to check on her. Examining her before signalling for help. Danny rushed over as they both carefully hosted her up and side pedalled back to the trailer.

"Come on, lets get this stuff off of you." She carefully started to unbuckle his pack. Mike and Jack came over and gladly took his equipment away. "You okay?"

He looked back to her, her eyes met his in the way a child that just saw his worst fear be brought out of a bad dream. Making sure to have a tight hold they slowly head back to the truck.

Passing by Mike and Jack he looked to them, "Pack up everything. We're done here." They both nod as they start going around picking up the equipment. When they past by the massive hole in the middle of the street, Derek could help but think of the poor sap that would have to repair not only the whole street but the Entire sewer system.

Or what was currently left of it.

Once they to the truck they had to cover their eyes from the bright light as the entered. Leo was there making quick work with what he could with Ember as Danny headed back out.

"Come on, lets get you cleaned up." She helps him up on the makeshift bed.

Derek carefully rolls on to his good side. "I'm.. Fine. Just a bit… banged up."

He want to chuckle, But the pain prevented it. Rachel walked back in with a set of towels and bandages. Setting then on the counter she carefully undoes the hazard suit and then his jump suit. Only pulling off to his waist to where his shirt was now a large mess. Peeling the cloth off the wounds she carefully starts wiping away the blood that was still leaking. When the others saw the wound, they were surprised but not shocked. It looked like a shark had tried to bite off his entire left side.

"Damn Derek…" Danny said looking at him. True he was usually a loose cannon at times he was still the most mature brother.

"Hey, at least it's not through my shoulder again- AH!" A sharp sting surges through his body. Rachel quickly patted the place where she poured disinfectant. Going numb for a moment he sets his head back down on the table. Looking back over to the unconscious dragoness he watched as Leo put another dose into her arm. Derek could easily see the patches of fabric that covered her torso. Many had dark red spots that no doubt will leave scars. He knew that she wasn't gonna be the same after this, but he let the thought be put to the side to let his mind rest.

"You know you could of died down there." Rachel said bringing him out of it.

Derek just rolled his eyes. "Please. It would take more than a army to stop this Ghostbuster. We do crazy things all the time."

"What about that time in Vegas?" Mike said walking by.

"Okay, that one's an exception and you know it." He earned a few light laughs as Rachel wrapped the patch. Meanwhile, Mike was finishing packing the equipment into Ecto-4 as he noticed that neither dragon had moved. Walking back over to the trailer he stops by them before getting in the truck.

"You three wanna ride?" He asked the two. Both of them wanted to say no thanks. But there minds were as tired as dirt was old. They nod in agreement as they got in and Mike went to the front. In moments the sounds of the truck's engine powering up made everyone sit back for a moment. The dragons sat at the table across from the others. Their eyes darting back and forth between Ember and Derek. Spyro continued to stare at the marks. If he hesitated any longer Derek would of been a dried out corse. He casted Cynder a glance as she did the same. In no time, the swaying motion of the trailer moving made them rest their heads on the table. Flame was looking about the trailer but not of the small convoy started weaving it's way through the streets back to the temple.

* * *

 _Roger in Ecto-2, Danny in Ecto-4, Ben in Ecto-1, Mike in Ecto-7 and everyone else in the trailer._

* * *

 _Later_

Upon arriving at the temple, day break had finally broken over the horizon. As the Ghostbusters pulled up, they were met with a swarm of guards and doctors. The Guardians were about to ask what happened but stayed silent as they watch Ember and Derek get wheeled off the trailer on beds. Derek was just barely awake as it was and Ember made no attempt at moving. Flame dashed up to Leo who was pushing the dragon as he stood by the pink dragon's side. When Spyro and Cynder walked out, the clear example of exhaustion was evident.

But what startled everyone was the condition the team was in. Derek's gash was just the first thing they saw. Then Mike walked past with both Roger and Jack, who now had a bandage wrapped around his head, holding his back in support with a clear limp. When the brothers came out, their diet covered faces was something that looked like the cause of war. Once the group had disappeared from view, the Guardians all looked back out to the city.

"Last night was something." Volteer said in a flat tone. By the time they got word of a massive black creature attacking, they quickly gathered a small force of Warfang's guards. But by the time they were ready, the creature was gone and word of the Ghostbusters battle was rapidly spreading. While current details were limited, eyewitnesses describing the fight made a clear statement of the earlier incident that lead up the explosion that rocked the city.

Terrador spoke up. "That creature was unlike anything seen before. People said that humans chased a slime creature to the sewers. I want to know why."

They head back towards the living quarters. In no time they turned down the hall that the team was staying. Several medics who were treating some of the team paid no attention to them as they entered Derek and Rachel's room. The activity was surprising with several doctors tending to the two limp forms that laid on the mountain of cushions. Volteer was able to just catch a glimpse of the slashes on the human's side before it was wrapped with bandages. Leo stood over at the desk opposite his laptop going over data. Spyro sat on said desk with two wires running from his forehead to the device. Cynder sat beside the scientist, watching the various numbers and words flash by. Flame sat across from the direction Ember faced with the sign of tears just barely holding. Rachel sat over on a cushion just above Derek gently stroking his hair.

"How are they?" Terrador asked down to Leo.

"They'll live. But will definitely be sore for a couple of days." he plucked the wires off the purple dragon. "The three of them were in heavy contact with high levels of Pke energy. Spyro seems to be more immune to the worst effects but both Derek and Ember came into direct contact with the slime."

Taking another meter he walks back over to his friend. The doctor tending him steps aside as he waves the sensor over the gash. "Well, good news is you won't be getting infected anytime soon. But I will say this, you'll have to be very careful later on. You'll be using the rifle or arm packs at most." Derek groaned at Leo's word. He knew fighting him over how to do his job was one sided when it came to situations like this.

"Just when I got done fine tuning the damn thing…" The others chuckle. But the guardians had a much more serious manner at hand.

"What was the cause of this?" Terrador looked down to him. "So far we've heard reports of a massive explosion followed by a giant monster."

"Black Slime Slor." Leo replied without even looking. A hint of dread was felt when he said those three words.

"A Slor?"Cyril asked.

Leo took on a deep breath before explaining. "A Slor is a interdimensional creature that is the mother of all slime monsters. What we've encountered here so far is nothing compared to them. They are the primary sources of black slime itself. A juvenile Slor alone could produce millions of gallons of slime with just being feed pure negativity. But last night's event was not that."

This made the Guardians a bit concerned and confused. "How so?"

"Because for a Slor to be brought from it's homeworld to another requires massive amounts of energy to do so. Last night a Black Slime Elemental got a gigantic super charge that resulted in a Black Slime Behemoth. A fake Slor that tried to intimidate a real Slor's power. It couldn't regenerate its reserves like one which was why we killed it so easily with the slime blowers."

It wasn't at all what they hoped. For a creature of just a simple state to take on a giant of unbelievable power sent a chill down their spines. If it was hard enough to kill one that resulted in their current condition, the thought of the team going head to head with what Leo said was a juvenile kind was unthinkable.

"Wait a second." Spyro spock up. The look of shock was evident. "That thing was easy to kill?" He got a nod back from Leo.

"Normally they won't reveal their weak points like that. And a real one would fully utilize the slime to it's fullest." Heading back he closes up his computer and gathers what equipment was there.

"I'm gonna need you back at Ecto-7 to finish these tests, Spyro. As for you two." He looked at the pair. "Do what she's doing and get some rest. We're all gonna need it."

"Uh, Leo. Why is Ember in the same bed as me?" He pointed a thumb to the sleeping pink mass just two feet away.

"Because since you both had the same contact with the monster it would be easier to monitor you both if you were close by."

Derek could barely see the smirk on his face as he walked out. One by one all dragons and humans left the room. Rachel was the last one to leave but stopped at the door to look back at him. He gave a weak smile as she returned one before leaving. Once the door clicked shut, silence quickly filled the room like a rolling fog. He tried looking out the window but found d it hard twisting his head back far enough. From the light alright coming through, he had to guess it was around 6 or 7 am. In truth, he was fully awake. But the exhaustion from all of the past few days was just knocking at his head. Sighing he pushes himself more into the cushions, he let the darkness of sleep overtake him.

.

.

.

.

" _Oh… Spyro…"_ Ember muttered as she twisted and turned.

Derek's eyes jolt open at the sudden action. At first nothing really concerned him. It was only about two hours of sleep he had gotten. But when he closed his eyes again, he could feel her claw scratching at his arm. He could feel it hook around and slowly drag it over towards her chest. He tries to pull back, but her grip becomes much tighter. When his hand brushes against her golden scales, he could hear hear shudder at the touch. The feeling of the stiff but yet smooth scales causes Derek to again open his eyes and look at the dragon.

"Ember _…_ " he said in a dried and quiet voice. He didn't want to wake her but but he did want his arm back.

Turning his head he faced straight to her. " _Ember…_ "

He could hear a muffled moan escape her muzzle. It wasn't what he expected, she started to move closer to him. Worming her body across the cushions she pressed her entire body against his right side. Derek was thankful that no one was around to see this but couldn't stop a blush from forming. Turning his head to the left he just looked out to the wall to try to ignore it.

 _*Inhale*_

His eyes almost popped from his head. He could feel Ember's muzzle up against the back of his head as she rubbed it back and forth.

"Ember- _OMF_."

Derek couldn't believe what this day was turning into. First a monster, then a massive gash on his side, and now, he had a pink dragon half the size of him but yet just as heavy now lying on top of him. Her claws were wrapping around his arms as her back legs kept his legs pinned. He would even her tail starting to even coil around his right leg. He was practically trapped under the dragoness that was in a sleep that even a freight train couldn't wake her up from.

" _Great…"_ he muttered into the cushions he had his face pressed in. " _How could this get any worse…"_

As if answered in his demise, he could feel her shift her weight again. Her head was turned towards the right as she rested her head now on top of Derek's own head. Her pink cheek was firmly pressed against his so hard he could literally feel each breath she took in and out.

" _I swear to God Leo, I'm gonna kill you for this…"_

"Need some help?" A voice sounded from the door. Derek could barely see who it was past the pink mass with a outline of black just visible.

" _Cynder?"_ She walked forward some so that he could see her fully. A smug grin was plastered on her face that made her almost break in a guy of laughter.

" _Take a picture, it will last longer."_ He in said a serious but sarcastic way. He could of sworn he heard her giggle as he felt a massive weight get pulled of of him. Looking up he watched as a black hand gripped around Ember, slowly lifting her up off him enough for him to move. Not taking the chance he carefully slides out from under her was the hand gently places her back.

Looking back to Cynder he could see her eyes glowing a faint white purple before fading out with the shadow. "Thanks."

She nods as she reaches behind her neck. Resting between the base of her wings was a neatly folder pair of clothes. "Rachel asked if I could bring this to you when you woke up. She said she would he able to fix your suit fairly easy."

Handing him the cloth he lets it drop down. It was a navy black jumpsuit similar to the ones from Ghostbusters 2 but had deep red patches like his other suit did. The other difference was that his name tag was missing and the logo on his right arm was a rusty red color with just the no-ghost inside a gear. Slipping on the legs first he carefully sticked his left arm in to avoid the bandages. Once it was in he put the other through and finally zipped it up.

"You don't look bad with that color." Cynder eyed up and down the suit.

Derek chuckled. "This is one of my older suits. Surprised it still fits this good." He walked over to the desk where his belt and boots were. Everything was there but his pack and and rifle. Once it was all on he walked over to the door, motioning for Cynder to follow. She hastily steps out the door as closed behind her. Once in the hall they both looked at each other before heading down.

Being on his left Cynder was practically eye level with his injury. "So that thing last night," she thought about how they fought so hard. "That tends to happen a lot in your world?"

"In some ways. Only on two occasions would it be the matter of 'if we die then everyone ends up dying' kind of thing. That Behemoth was the 17th one we got on record now. And I have a feeling it won't be the last."

The way his last sentence made her wonder what it could be like. The dream of his world being attacked by the same slime now here was driving her mind into thinking of what might actually happen.

"Is something like 'Infestation' gonna happen?" She wanted to slap herself. But instead of getting a response from him, she looks to see that he wasn't beside her anymore.

"Derek?" She looked back to him. He stood there with a blank expression on his face as he just stared into space. "Derek…."

 _Derek's Mind._

Opening his eyes, the human looked to see nothing but darkness all around him. He looked up, down, behind and found nothing. All but black. He could feel a hard surface under his boots, taking a step forward be slowly took a few steps. Making sure that what ever platform he was on was in fact there.

"Hello?" He called out, but only heard his vocie echo out. For a mount he wondered if he should try again, but got what he asked.

"Greetings." He practically jumped out of his suit. Spinning around he saw that some ways from him was a dragon. But what was weird about this was how he looked at him. Derek was eye level with a dragon that would be the size of a small house.

"Chronicler?" Derek looked closer. The dragon in front of him was different, much different. His body had much more flare to it with a much brighter color. From what he could see, this dragon was much younger.

He shook his head, "Not yet, I am still learning to fill that role but I will in time." He said getting closer.

"Wait a sec," he did a double take. "Your Ignitus, the fire Guardian. I recognize you from the statue in the temple."

"So they did finish it. And at first I was wondering what they really had it made for." Derek seemed to grow a little confused at what the dragon was talking about. But as he talked to really himself a thought came to mind.

"It was you." He bluntly said making the dragon stop. "You were that man who walked into the firehouse that day and asked us about helping your slime problem."

Ignitus nodded. In a fluid manner he breathed out a light blue flame that formed between the two. It slowly reshaped itself. In moments a spitting image of the man stood before Derek.

"Though I must say." Both human and dragon Ignitus said in unison, "For such a small race, you humans really do like building things bigger."

"If we were in Texas the word Bigger would be a understatement." They both let out a hearty chuckle.

"He-he... But hat aside now, for the real reason I brought you here." His human dissapeared in a flash. A larger fireball quickly built up in his maw as it seemed to be at even his limits. He cracks his lips just briefly before a wall exploded out. Derek quickly brought his as up to shield himself but when the fire made contact he didn't feel pain or burning.

When he lowered his arms, he was confused. He was back in the hallway he and Cynder were walking down before Derek zoomed out. But everything was quiet, more than what he's found to be normal. Everything around him had a orange hue that made it seem like a fure was causing the change of light. But it didn't stop there, he could feel a massive weight on his back. He knew he didn't have his pack with him. But just glancing aroubd told him that it was something bigger than his. He was fully suited, his blue jumpsuit that now had extra padding on his chest and legs. A headset with his goggles rested on his head with now 4 traps clamped around his belt.

He looked ready to go to war. But something wasn't right at all.

"Ignitus?" He looked around for the dragon. No where down either ends did he see or hear a sign of it. The first door he tried to open greeted him with a solid wall. It happened to every door he tried. He would try to open it but it would just change back into a solid piece of the wall like it was never there. He walked for some time till he arrived in the main hall that separated the temple, it was completely full if debris with the other doors all blocked.

The only one left was the main door that lead outside. Taking in a deep breath Derek slowly walks over to the massive door. Despite its size it is fairly easy to open. Easy enough for even moles to open it with little effort. When he walked up to the seem that was made between the two doors, Derek could feel the air seem through it. A heavy coldness that at the same time felt like it could burn your lungs to a crisp. Lifting his hands up he firmly pushes down near the center. Having very little resistance he shoves both open.

W hen they swung fully out, the sight that greeted him was what he saw back in New York once, " _Oh_ _my God..."_

The city was gone. The steps that lead down to the main courtyard were smashed to the point of just being a hill of rock. The entire courtyard that he remembered pulling up and parking for the first time in the city was now what would be described as a junkyard with stone and metal with a variety of other things mixed together. The wall that divided the temple from the city was just a smoldering ring. And then the city, it looked likea dramatic rerun of San Francisco in Terminator 4. The streets with filled with rubble from buildings that had suffered unthinkable damage. Anything street level was either gone or just collapsed into the ground.

" _What the hell happened to this place_?" Derek muttered under his breath as he looked out past the main wall that protected the city from anything outside. Expect there wasn't a wall, or even a thick green forest that spanned all the way to the mountains. It was a lot more like the game Fallout, every direction he was met with a complete waste land.

"DEREK!" He jolted around at the sound of the voice.

"Rachel?" When he turned around, what he saw was unbelievable. He looked like he was standing just at the base of a massive volcano that was erupting in a tower of purple and black slime that screamed down the hill side.

But what made him was what he saw in front of him. A giant wave of fire, like a tsunami roared over the mountain side vaporizing anything that was in its path. And running straight at him in front of the wave was Rachel and the others. They also were bloody messes with their suits just barely holding to their body and their packs just giggling on their backs. They were all running at Derek as fast as possible as the wave over took the mountain.

Derek couldn't look anymore, he ran out. His arm stretched as far as he could to even touch someone. Rachel was the closest, the pure look of fear on her face made Derek try to just stop time to reach her. To reach everyone and save them.

He could see her hand just graze his own, but he didn't feel it cone into his. The wall of fire ingulfed all of them. Towering flames raced over the street, first Leo, then Danny, Jack, Ben, Roger and finally Rachel. Their bodies one by one exploded in a cloud of ash. It all rushed right into Derek's face, he could feel it pinch away at his skin as he closed his eyes as tightly as possible.

"Derek." A vocie made him open his eyes. Looking back he saw Ignitus standing there with a bleak look.

"What..." Derek paused. Looking around he saw that everything was back to the way it was before the wave hit. "What was that?"

A unbelievable level of dread was filling his mind like a breached dam. It was like looking back from the year prior. But this was yet so different at the same time.

Walking up to his side the dragon sat down on his hunches. "That my friend, was what the future might actually become."

* * *

 **When the city is shaking,**

 **The skies will be roaring to Hell.**

 _ **Who you gonna Call?**_

* * *

So this is something to foreshadow some stuff.

I made Ember's element lightning because she didn't have a element from what I searched and wanted her to have a much more effective force . Most would use fire but Flame is already a fire dragon.

The team has three different sets of radio contacts. Pack mounted that are attached to the left strap. Hand held, belt mounted and headsets for when with in vehicles or a much greater distance that the normal ones can't reach.

Crossing the Streams is both dangerous and yet helpful at the same time. Because of the built in governors that prevent total protonic reversal they can cross the streams safely without the risk of back lash. When two or more proton streams intercept each other their energy flows are built up at the contact point where what ever is the center stream (in this case Derek was in the middle) they would have more control over breaking the streams or wrangling.

This is however not recommended because the combined power of just two streams would revival that of a Overloaded Electron Beam. But is a weapon of choice when some busts are to big and require much more punch.

Terminator 4 is actually the 2009 film Terminator: Salvation if you hot a but confused with the movie order.

If anyone is interested the origins story is now out: Protonix Ghostbusters: Broken Reality.

And damn, only 17 chapters in and I broke the milestone of 100,000+ words.

 _P.s thanks to all who have faced and followed._

 _(This is probably just here to make THIS OVER 9000! Sorry, had to do it.)_


	18. Cause and Effect

Chapter 18: Cause and Effect

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Days had gone by since the Slor incident. It was a big wake up call to the city and it's residents, both refugees and citizens that this was something completely different from what the war had done before.

News of the Slor that got to settlements not affected by the slime or those who stayed were beyond shock to hear such a creature. But when the word of about the Protonix Ghostbusters got to them, many couldn't believe it. Some were thankful, others disregarded them. Telling others that they hale from Malefor as a means of taking advantage of them or that it was just a trick. But every time they did, another settlement was destroyed. Crushed, burned, and wiped out from the face of the planet.

In Warfang however, things were quickly escalating. Since the incident with the presence of so much black slime the level of activity quickly blew up. Time and time again a dragon or some other species would run into the temple yelling ghost or monster in which the team had to quickly mobilize to the scene. Most busts were mostly eliminations. A perk in their part to save on room in the containment unit and use of traps but there was the times where a capture was needed. The cycle had the team quickly becoming drained as they became more and more busy. They didn't have time to relax and recoup. They would spend day and night patrolling the city in the cars and chopper to be there at a moment's notice.

But it didn't stop there. Three times since the Slor a massive Pke wave would sail in and out of the city. Sparking even more activity. Leo had been going over large piles of data he started collecting since they arrived on Avalar and each pulse brought in new data sets. He would for hours comb over it all in Ecto-7 or the library, running tests and theories about the frequency of the surges.

Derek for the most part had been able to easily recover from his injury but still had a throbbing pain that prevented him from busting so he helped Leo on some work. The gash had been successfully closed but now left large pinkish red scars that covered most of his left stomach. He wasn't the only one. 2 days prior to him moving about, Ember has made a decent recovery via crystals that the doctors used to help speed up the process.

But that night Derek was shown by Ignitus still played over and over. The image playing back like a home movie felt like his time a year ago. But how the events were like didn't make sense. A volcano of black slime was one such thing. It was like mount Helens popping but with more slime than what was sitting under New York before Infestation. It was more unsettling when the others came forward telling the same thing. All eight were depicting the same wasteland and erupting volcano with them running.

It became something no one wanted to talk about and kept it that why. But Leo continued to remind himself that it was important for something later on.

 _Courtyard_

"That's it… I'm done." Mike said dropping his drink on the table. The others that were sitting around all groaned in agreement. The brothers however made no attempt at doing anything from their beds.

"I'm not busting another ghost until I get ten straight hours of sleep." Roger voice muffled from the table.

Rachel, leaning against the side of the refrigerator, "Screw ten, I need a week…"

"Hey guys." The purple dragon came walking up the open ramp of the trailer that no one bothered to close.

When he walked in, he was a taken back by the sight of the team just looking utterly dead before him. He had tried to help the team in fights but was stuck to being on crowd control. It really wasn't what most would expect the purple legend that saved the world to do but he had no real choice. Trying to teach a dragon how to use a proton pack wasn't the best thing anyone needed.

Scanning around Spyro looked at everyone but realized someone was missing. "Where's Leo and Derek? Haven't seen them all day."

Jack answered, "Leo's been in the library going over data from over the week. But we haven't seen Derek since this morning. Ecto-1s gone so he must of gone on patrol."

"Thanks. Also have any of you seen Cynder?" They all shake their heads.

"Not since that one job two days ago." Rachel answered. Spyro pondered for a moment before turning back around and heading out. Once he was in the open he unfolded his wings and took off into the air. Dissappearing from view into the sun light.

"Has it occurred to anyone how much that dragons been around him?" Roger looked at the others who were a bit confused. When they found Derek after being visited by Ignitus in _Cynders_ room and how she explained what happened, it was alright. But since then they have notice how the two would be missing from the group or in the same room.

It struck Rachel much more she thought about what was really going on. But what the team didn't know was that the two were up to something. Some where in the forest outside the city, the Ecto-1 sat with its Super Slammer opened with equipment lying about.

Cynder for the time sat in the open drivers door with her eyes calmly closed. Letting the light that came through the trees that over Shadowed the car and a gentle breeze to pass through. When the sound of equipment clanking together came to her ears (do they even have ears?) sge turned towards the rear of the vehicle.

"You sure you feel alright to do this?" Derek steps out from behind the door. Instead of being dressed in his usual suit, he now had a plain white t-shirt with a pair of faded blue jeans that had several black and green spots.

As it was he was struggling to get his protonix pack that was switched off onto his back. "Just... great..." he tried to put his left a through the strap.

Watching as he struggled she slid from the seat and walked over. "Here, let me. She undid his right strap. Causing the whole pack to fall against her. The sudden weight caught her off guard but Derek quickly trickled it back on.

"Geeze, how heavy are these things?" She asked as he pulled the gun.

"Like this, 230 pounds. Simply put because the cores aren't getting used and just building up. Plus the 1 inch thick ring of electromagnets. 112 if powered on because of a air system that keeps most of the internal parts cooled."

Cynder just nodded, not really understanding what he just said except the parts of it being heavy and very heavy. Flipping the activator switch the pack lights up with its famous hum.

"Alright, Disrupters in place." He glance at the two units spread out from him. Both flashing a red light in indication of a shield is active. "Check, Traps." He tosses out two. One was his Sabar Trap and another, a loaded Pressure Trap.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Cynder asked again. "You remember what happened last time."

Derek just rolled his eyes. "That's why I'm only using a few ghosts with them all under Class 5. Fairly easy busts compared to last time. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

Cynder just rolled her eyes. Complying she walks back over to the drivers seat and hopes back in the car. Adjusting her position so that her wings aren't cramped. In a bright flash the trap cone that usually sucks ghosts in spits out a green blob. It looked like if a person had just bathed in a pool of lava and then tried to cool down with acid. The ghost looks around for a moment until its eyes locked onto Derek, it lets out a screech and charges down. It doesn't get far before a Boson Dart smashes into it, stopping its charge and leaving it floating in the air in a dazed manner.

Wrangling it in his stream he guides it over to the waiting Sabar trap that had its beacon being emitted. Once the ghost touched it the doors popped open in a beam of light as a cone of energy surrounded the entity. It immediately tries to fight back be is quickly sucked inside the silver box. Once the doors closed it let out a small beeping sound followed by a flashing red light and a puff of smoke. In a few moments the beacon returns back in its fading form.

"Next!" Derek shouts for no reason as he vented. The Pressure Trap opens up again but this time with five more entities. The largest being a Class 4 had the smaller ghosts inputting around it.

Smirking he switches out his cannon to Proton as he went Stasis on his gun. The four ghosts all launched in different directions. The Ion following the nearest one as it fired it's own stream. Derek dashed around the larger ghost as the dark blue beam started to quickly take effect on the Class 5. The cannon bouncing back from the ghouls to the bigger target as it was rapidly coated in crystal.

Making sure to keep the ghost frozen he carefully back tracks over to the trap. Kicking it with his boot till it was directly underneath. At first nothing happened, then the beam dropped and so did the ghost. The four smaller ones were easily pulled in via the main doors or the side ports.

Satisfied by the out come he leans the thrower against his shoulder like one would a gun. "Even as a cripple I'm still good."

"Missed One." She points to a small ghoul that was crawling across the ground. Dragging its body as a dirt train was dug into the soil. Derek turned around, activated the Ion Cannon, and let the thrower lift the ghost up near the trap and let it get sucked in.

"See, Nothing can really stop this machine." he pats his chest as he walked over to retrieve his trap.

"Still, I've seen some of the toughest dragons get something like that, only bigger, and be bed ridden for months. And yet you're much more fragile than on and yet went straight back to... This."

"Hey, just like what the theme song says." He bends down on his right side to pick up and hold the trap. "Bustin' makes me feel good."

" _Derek, Derek come in."_ His radio sounded on the dashboard. Cynder reached behind her and pulled it off. Handing it to Derek as he walked up.

"Yeah, Go for Derek," he responded.  
" _Listen,_ " Rachel's voice began clear. " _Leo's gathering everyone in the Temple's library for something._ "

" _Just when I got started..._ Alright, I'll be there in a few." he puts the radio back on his belt. "Guess we're heading back."

Heading back around the car he undoes his pack again and places it back on the gurney that held the pack's. stripping his equipment but his radio he makes sure everything was in place. As he does to retrieve the disrupter units Cynder walks up to him. Giving him a slight startle as he handed him the units.

"Here." He calmly takes them out of her claws. "Um, Thanks. But you know I could of gotten them." he places them inside.

"I know, figured I'd save you the time." She says walking around him before disappearing on the other side. Shrugging at the action he closes the rear gate and hopes back in the front seat. Starting up the engine as he drove back the way they came. The trip back to the city wasn't that long due to the path the team made during their first trip. Most of the debris was cleared away and now served as a new path way for people.

When crossing the field gap that separate the outer walls from the forest Derek flipped on the emergency lights but no siren on. The two guards at the gate calmly pushed open the large doors as the car drove by. Once back inside the activity on the street ahead of them notice the large white mass slowly coming forward and stepped aside enough to let it go by. It become now a normal day occurrence with the racing down the streets to a call.

Resting her head on the door facing out the open window, Cynder just looked around watching anything that caught her interest. Sighing, she glance over to Derek who's focus was facing ahead.

"Don't you ever wonder." She said loud enough for him to hear. "If what we're destined to do in life is not what we hope for?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Destiny in my opinion is just a fancy word for a predicted fate. Some of it can be true, some of it might not be. Just like the idea of scientist believing Earth is the only planet in the universe with life. There's still so much out there we don't know still and yet every day we get closer to hopefully finding out. Hell, if you told me ten years ago that I would be the one to make Ghostbusters a real life business, I would laugh very hard and call you crazy. And yet here I am."

He looked over to the black dragoness. "Why do you ask?" His vocie filled with curiousity on the subject.

Cynder sighed before turning to face forward. "It's just that... since this whole Malefor thing ended I haven't felt like Ive been very..." she tried thinking of the word.

"Productive?"

"Yeah. And everytime I try to do something it's either not need or nobody needs me for it."

"Kinda like me." Her attention goes straight to him. "I know the others already told you. We even had that chat in the night we all met each other. You just have to do something that everyone didn't think could be. It's how I did it, and now I'm laughing at those jack asses who thought other wise."

Cynder tried to refrain from laughing at his comment and luckly held it in. In no time the two pulled up to the temple courtyard as they got out and headed inside.

 _Later, The Library_

"Alright Leo, what do you want now..." Roger groaned as he rubbed his eyes. He had awakened everyone from some much needed rest, both humans and dragons, to share what he wanted to share.

The guardians were already there as they all were gathered around the fore waiting as everyone filled in. Looking around they tried to find where their friend was.

"Leo?" No answer.

"LEO!" Everyone shouted, still no answer.

"I got this." Derek walks over and grabs the biggest book he could use. Walking back over to the table he starts clipping his knuckles against the surface. "Oooo... Leoo..." he says in a zombie like voice. Derek brings the book up and drops it has hard as he could.

* _ **SLAM***_

Leo instantly jumps from his spot from under the table as he pulled away a pair of headphones away, "I'm right here. You don't have to yell, plus this is a library."

Everyone just rolled there eyes at him being the smart ass he is. Moving the device to the side he brushes off anything covering the large paper that was laid across the table.

"You guys are all familiar with the workings of a Mandala, correct." They all nod. Leo, out of one of his many pockets, rolls out a diagram of the 1991 Mandala. The strange symbol caught the dragons attention fairly quick as the all hunched over to get a better look.

"What is that?" Volteer looked at the spirals. "I don't recognize this symbol from anywhere."

Leo answered, "That's because its from our world. Or a fictional part of it." They all looked at him in confusion.

Derek cleared this throat loud enough for them to look. Preparing to give another long explanation. "A Mandala is a spiritual labyrinth consisting of multiple nodes that draws power from ghosts in the system. Think of it as a city trade line. At each node, or trade station, there's a node guardian that draws energy from the ghosts or 'goods' in this case. They use this power to grow stronger and keep everything in the flow in check and destroy anything that threatens to disrupt the flow. At the end of each line the energy is absorbed to the supreme guardian or who ever is controlling the system and feeds them the power to make them become much stronger and draw in more spirits into the system and the whole process repeats itself over and over until the supreme guardian gets enough power to do whatever the system was intended for. You get all that, Volteer?"

Everyone turned to look at the electric dragon who was written down everything said in unbelievable speeds. He looks up from the paper and gives a nod.

Cyril pondered for a moment then asked, "But you said this was off fiction. And yet you know so much about it."

"It and isn't. It isn't because they're known to be used in different religions in our world. But this one," Derek points to the diagram, "Is based off of the GB Video Game set in 1991. Part of the fictioned universe we run off of. This was the system set up that not only brought Shandor to their world but even our world two years ago."

"Okay..." the purple dragon said trying to understand, "But what's that got to do with us?"

Leo explained, "You said Malefor was the dark lord correct? His control over Convexity alone is enough for him to create something like this when he was even locked up."

This brought the three element dragons down to the map. "Are you saying that he's been planning this for over a thousand years?" Terrador asked hoping not. But everyone else nodded a yes.

"Not this system. This one was accidentally trigger and was made around 70 years before anything started using it. Mandalas can be premade but useless if the right forces aren't in the right place. When he came back from his imprisonment he tried to fuel what modes he possibly set up but didn't think about one key ingredient."

"Black Slime." Cynder answered.

Derek, pulling out his I-phone brought up a diagram of the religion base. "While its not really the thing to fully use, black slime is the key conductor used in these kind of systems. And if this slime business started not even a month ago, than there is a extreme chance there is a system on this world now turned on."

This made everyone either uncomfortable or just frozen. Even Cyril turned into a ice statue of a dragon.

"How... how do we find it?" Spyro looked at the leader with a hint of pleafing eyes. But the human just which is head.

"I... I have no idea."

"But I do." Leo pulls out a much larger roll of paper out. It was a weathered sheet like one would see a very old document to becom,. Like the declaration of independence. Except this had much more recent work down to it.

When he unrolled it for everyone to see, Derek immediately took interest. "I thought we put this in the archives?" He looks at his friend with a raised brow.

"What is it?" Rachel asked as she moved the paper over to her side.

"That my friends," he paused for a more dramatic effect, "Is the Icarea Mandala."

Everyone was past confused. They turned to Derek whom was just shaking his head with a hand covering his face. The paper before them wax a spiral system like the New York mandala but was incredibly bigger in scope and complexity. On it sat one center nod with a bluish green tint that spun outward to 24 different points on the map. All ranging from different colors and symbols, except one.

The now apparent Node 25 was freshly marked on the paper but was instead a blank circle. Derek for one was deeply interested in the new additions.

"What the hell did you do to this?" He looked over the paper for any sign of change. But to his discomfort it was perfectly blended in like the day they first made it.

* _Ehem*_ He looked up from the table to see the five dragons still standing there. "Not to be rude or anything," Cynder looked around for a moment, "But what the Hell are you people talking about?"

"It's a old theory me and Leo had been working since we went into business. The idea was that because our world was separate from outside levels of existens, what we did, ghostbusting and all, linked not only our world to different levels but other worlds as well."

Leo looked at the five, "Do you have multiple worlds here?"

"Yes," Terrador answered, "Several different realms that linked to here."

"Then it adds more to what we have." Reaching down he pulls out two more sheets. Laying them side by side to the present map.

"This here," he points to the first one, "Is the original set up me and Derek made when first looking into this. Kinda like our own Multiverse theory. We made this at first as a way to figure out how both ghosts and black slime is so heavily woven in our world where nether should exist. Then came the Shandor event."

He pulls the second page on to the first. "This, was after the event." The same map had now shown not only one node, the one that represented Our World, but now 6 different points that branched out like a web.

"At first I thought someone changed it. But it only added fuel to that fire. Each team that came from a separate world, all 6 of different realities now connected to us. And then this." He points to the first map he showed to everyone.

"This, this is the newest up to date version."

Jack pulled all three papers alart and let them sit beside each other. "So how did in 2 years did 18 more get added?"

"Same way this one, " he points to #25, "Did. That wasn't there before?"

Leo nodded.

"So why is that when we get through here, this new system all a suddenly shows up on a mandala system not even completed and yet with nods he don't know?" The team was left to a heavy thought. Even the dragon, guardians especially, pondered over it.

"That's not all," Leo said pulling out a now clear sheet of plastic. Making the others wonder more about where he was keeping this stuff. Droppthe sheet over the new symbol the entire circle became much larger with finger detail.

(In simpler terms, Magnification Paper.)

The enlarged node showed a complex system of spirals along with different node points place around the map.

Spyro leaned over the table and looked closer. Looking back at the '91 system compared to the new one. "A Mandala in a mandala?" He earned a approving nod from Leo.

"If this node on the Icarea is a subsystem that is both to this world, then we might be able to find the source of the black slime using it." This made everyone perk up. They had gotten tired of the slime business and to put it to a end sooner was something everyone could agree on.

"Do you have a flat map of Avalar?" Derek asked the earth dragon. Terrador nodded before goibtkto retrieve said map.

Both Leo and Derek looked closely at each ring that the bids rested on. 5 different locations that were spread apart in a backwards 'S' form.

"Here." Terrador drops the large scroll on the table as it unrolled itself. Looking back between the mandala and map the two scientists tried to think if where what nod went. It became clear enough to the others fairly quickly.

Rachel stepped forward, "What's wrong?"

"Mapping a mandala to a city is one thing." Derek answered for her. "But trying to map a whole planet is much harder. You have so many places that could be possible locations."

"Then what about that?" She points to a red spot on one of the rings. Making both men do a double take on how they missed it.

"Okay, so he already gave one node shut downd. But where?"

"What about Warfang?" Everyone looked to Spyro. The purple dragon a little nervous with all eyes on him. "You said there are usually a node guardian right? So what about that Elemental and that lake me and Derek found under the city."

Everyone looked at each for a mom. Then to Leo. "It's quite possible. A manifestation of that size and amount of black slime, not to mention all this activity all fits together."

"And us killing the monster shut it down." Cynder added. Pulling a marker from his pocket (he has everything in them) he draws a large X over the location the TT sat on the map.

"Okay, we have one out if four now and the center node. So if we were to place the next location, it would be right…" he tried looking for the spot.

"Here." Derek's finger points don't to a large mountain range near the outer edge of the map. Unlike everything else it had a strange purple and black hue that scratched out the location and name.

"That's an old volcano chain." Terrador looked closer. "It's been inactive for four hundred years now."

Leo reached down and pulled out 4 long rolls of paper. Letting them across the table as they all looked at the writing. "Well apparently not anymore. Since the first wave I've put them through the scale and each one has significantly increased paranormal activity all over the place."

Spyro steps up moving the map from underneath. "So whatever's causing all this is somewhere in those mountains?"

"Exactly. And we need to get there before the next wave passes through here. If so we'll be to busy with ghosts to find the source."

Everyone ponders into a thought as they let the information sink in. Looking over to Derek and Leo, Rachel asks the key question.

"What's the plan?"

"Pack up everything we need and make sure every vehicle and piece of equipment is ready. We'll leave tomorrow."

The team goes to leave but is stopped by Spyro. "Wait just a second. How in the name of Ancestors, do you plan on getting there."

"Same way we got here." Derek answered. "Ecto-4 and 7 can clear a path for us. Ecto-2 will be in the air with the five of you following."

"Why all five of us?" Cyril asked. Wondering why they had to go.

"We need to be at full force to stop this thing. Spyro and Cynder maybe your world's most powerful beings but even they can't fight black slime. You three are the second strongest to them and can hold out more damage. Plus if we run into anything or anyone we don't know about we got you."

Leo's logic was hard to argue against but made perfect sense. It was reasonable if they encountered anything the team couldn't know right way.

Derek turns back and pushes the door wide open. "Alright, let's get moving people! Got a date with a ghost."

* * *

 **When Darkness fills the air, I will hide to make my call. Waiting for the sound, of an Ecto.**

 **Who ya gonna Call?**

* * *

A few more chapters away from finishing the first Arc.

The Icarea Mandala System is a massive driving force for the Displacement Series as it gives a reason to connect multiple crossovers together.

The first 6 nodes are nods to the 6 different Ghostbusters universes that they came in contact with in 'Ghost Lord's and the others represent previous crossover events.

The Displacement Effect is one of the bigger driving forces that makes the Icarea Mandala effect the PGB timeline. Its the fact that what we see now is a set point that our minds hold solid to. This works for crossovers by using the 'Go in and Remember, Get out and Forget' kind of thing.

Say you crossover PGB with something and the year is 2015, Take any GB, Derek for example since he has a tendency for this kind of thing, plucked for a moment in that year and drop in another world. He would remember everything from his world to going to the next one. Now when leaving that world he would be put through something like a Reset where he remembers everything only to the point before going. So anything that he knows about the other world is now just a blank. There is however another version where if the crossover involved being sent to Our World or the character(s) being naturally sent back. This would let them remember everything at happened to them.

This would result in a situation where if someone went to a fictioned world that exists in Our World, the persons would have no memory or idea what it is or what happened and etc.


	19. Rolling Out to Battle

Chapter 19: Rolling Out to Battle

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

After going over the plan much more thoroughly, the team was preparing all their vehicles to move out. The dragons had giving a updated map that showed a city-state that boarded the mountains. The city named 'Crystal Line' was the bid set destination. Stocking up food and supplies the team was fine tuning the equipment to it's fullest extent. Super slammers now had a much more border suction like a pressure trap. The trailer mounted Pke Disrupters were now in a much more functioning state but still had yet to be tested with Leo's addition to the new crystal adaptors.

The dragons were preparing their own equipment as well. Bringing along two whole crates of Healing and Spirit gems with additional food and tents for a means of sleep. The guardians were still hesitant about going. It wasn't the kind of thing for them to head first into battle. But Leo had convinced them that the diplomatic problem they might face was evident from the past. Agreeing to go on the one matter they were prepping their own special armours.

 _The Next Day_

In the courtyard the area was buzzing with activity. People from around the city came to the temple to see the operation unfold. The three vehicles were lined up with the gate where Ecto-1 stood at the front with Ecto-4 in the middle and Ecto-7 bring up the rear. Ecto-2 sat behind the trailer with its propeller steadily getting up to speed. The Ghostbusters were running all about the getting last minute changes.

Meanwhile, up on the staircase to the building, Spyro looked down at the team and crowd that had gathered. To say he was surprised to see this kind of reaction from Warfang would be a understatement.

Leaning to his left side, he could feel someone walking up. "This is something I never really thought would happen."

Cynder looked at the team, "It feels like we're going to war…" Sorrow started to creep into her voice. If what they saw from the vision was what the Ghostbusters fought, to think they were preparing for the same thing here brought chills to everyone.

"I know that feeling…" he answered as the guardians came out. The three dragons watched as well in amusement.

"They really are an organized operation." Volteer saw as they loaded up extra supplies into the trailer before closing it up. "Here they come."

As he said the 8 humans strolled up the stairs to them. Derek unrolls the map in front of them, using his rifle as a pointer.

"Alright, we're here." he hovers over a spot where Warfang sat. "If we took the pathway we cleared before and pass the Stone Forest, we'll have two rivers to cross. There's this one ridge where by nightfall if it all goes smoothly we should see the city. Once there we'll restock on supplies and from there it's a straight shot to the mountains. We'll go by air and hide the vehicles."

He looks up to everyone as they all processed the information.

"Spyro, you have that radio," Leo looked down at a spare belt they had that now went across the dragon's body. It firmly held multiple sensors with a radio and Pke meter rightly strapped on.

"We set?" he looks back to them, they all nod. "Alright, LET'S MOVE OUT!" Derek shouted.

Grabbing the map everyone sprints to their vehicles. Sliding into the Cadillac Rachel rides shotgun with Derek. In Ecto-4 the brothers both take their places with Danny at the wheel. In the truck Jack joined with Leo as the two quickly went over the systems. In the chopper Roger powered up the engines to full with Mike as his co-pilot. Reviving their engines the vehicles all lite up in flashes of blue with their sirens blaring. The guards that held back the crowds quickly pushed away to clear a path as the Ectos started pulling forward. Slowly the convoy entered the ever so crowded streets as they turned to head towards the main gate. Once Ecto-7 cleared the temple, the dragons all spread their wings as they took flight. Followed by Ecto-2 hovering for a moment before flying off. Beings of all kinds watched as the team swiftly moved through the city and out the front gate.

Crossing the field Derek plucked the radio off the dashboard. "Alrighty people, buckle up and sit tight. We're going to take a walk in the woods." At that the vehicles drove down the dirt road. The dragons closely behind in the air as they flew on.

Up in the air the dragons flew in a triangle formation with Ecto-2 at the head, Spyro and Cynder in the middle and the guardians themselves in the rear. All flying low to keep an eye on the convoy. For the two legendaries, this was a sight that brought forth something they had hoped to forget.

"Spyro?" Cynder asked not looking away from in front of her.

"Hm?"

"Doesn't remind you of when we first went to stop Malefor?" The question did hit him like a brick. The events that so far had played out almost mirroring the past.

"I guess… it kinda does. The Slor as the destroyer, a army of ghosts instead of apes, and all this black slime like his shadow."

What did make them think was really how this had changed. All because of the Ghostbusters just being dropped into deal with the problem like they do everyday. Truth be told when they told about how stupid the whole 'Imprison for a thousand years' play would of course always fail and they would return to do it again was something that literally made the dragons uneasy.

"I just hope it's not like what they say is true."

Cynder cocked a brow, "About what?"

"Everything."

" _Hey, Spyro._ " Derek's voice called out.

Fiddling with the switch he held down the button with his claw. "Yes, Derek?"

" _You forgot your radio channel open_." Realizing this he quickly turned the knob to the right.

" _Sigh_ * This is going to be a long day..."

 _4 Hours Later…_

It was now mid day as the group slowly pulled up to a large river that now stood in the cars' way. It was a roaring surge with debris washing away with ease. Walking around the team tried to find a easy way to cross.

"Any ideas?" Derek asked while throwing a branch into the fast moving water. Everyone was walking up and down the shore with the dragons flying over to spot any way to cross.

"Why not build a bridge?" Roger shrugged as he leaned against the chopper.

Derek rolled his eyes, "If you can find a crane with a couple tons of steel I'll gladly do so."

Looking back to the forest and then the river, Spyro began formulating his own plan. Walking back down the path he looked at several massive longs that were pushed away.

Cynder came up to him looking around at what he saw. "Have something in mind, Spyro?"

"Maybe." He scratched his chin for a moment before the idea clicked. Running back over to the group. "I got an idea."

 _7 Unbelievable Minutes (that I didn't want to write) Later…_

"Spyro… Are you sure this will work?" Terrador looked down at the purple dragon with concern. He wasn't the only one. All the humans and dragons present all stared at the wonder of architecture that now laid across the large river. Using the cut down trees from driving they had Ecto-2 lift the now sawed in half logs that were double line like railroad tracks. Rock via from Terrador covered the top for traction with a combination of ice and slime holding everything together. Derek carefully stepped forward on the first set tapping his foot on the moving wood.

"How do you guys want to do this?" He looked back to his team. They were weary about this from the start.

Stepping forward Leo looked at the bridge one more time. "We'll start with the lightest vehicle. One driver each. No one is to be on this thing when a vehicle is crossing. Have Terrador, Volteer and Cyril all be on the driver side and be ready to catch if we start losing it."

Derek agreed, "Alright. Mike, Take Ecto-1. Danny in 4, I'll be in 7." they all head to their vehicles. The guardians all got in position as Spyro and Cynder hovered just above the Ecto. The Leo and Ben stayed at this side while Roger took Jack and Rachel to the other. Once they were in Leo radioed them.

"Everyone ready!?" He shout. Receiving many yeses. "Alright Mike, nice and slow."

Jerking the cadillac forward he slowly approaches the edge. Giving it some power to where the front wheels went up. Pulling forward he hit the back wheels and then finally start crossing. Everyone watched as the makeshift build groaned and swayed against the flow. Arching out in the center that made many on edge. But it wasn't long until he reached the halfway point and then speed up to reach the other side.

"Alright he's clear." Ben said giving a thumbs up. The two legendaries quickly flew back over to the vehicle side as Danny was already bringing Ecto-4 up. Being a heavier vehicle made most of the team a bit skeptic at what would happen. But being above water like it was made Danny feel slightly nervous, too much so that he went across faster than he should of. The bridge jerked violently at the sudden change as the bend became bigger.

"Is it safe?" Leo called to Spyro who flew over the jerked spot.

 _"We better hurry. Not telling how long this has."_

"Copy that." Leo quickly dash back over to the cab. Ben following as they piled in. "Go Fast." he said as Derek shifted to the next gear. The semi rolled forward with the plow scraping the edge. The front wheels went over as the entire truck was now above the water. The trailer however, when the wheels came up and hit against the logs. The truck stalls out for a moment, making Derek give a lot more power causing the whole thing to launch forward. The massive weight jolts the entire bridge as the their end broke loose. The entire structure is caught by the dragons as the put their backs against the wood, using their wings to prevent the truck from sliding off. Realizing the danger Derek guns it the last of the stretch. Passing the halfway point as slime and ice started to give causing parts to be floated away. He floors the gas as the truck landed on the solid ground. Just before the trailer's wheels could be overtaken by the logs and washed away. Pumping the breaks he gets the truck to stop just a few yards away. Everyone rushes over as Derek slid down to where he sat on the gas tank steps. (It's not gas it's coolant. They have to keep it somewhere.)

" _Hehe_ … that went well." Leo and Ben both joined in a laugh. Just then the guardians came up shaking water all over the place.

"That was too close." Volteer sternly said.

Leo nodded, "Agreed. But we made it over, so let's keep moving. You guys can ride on the trailer if you get-" He didn't finish before all three dragon jumped and gently landed on the clear spot. "-roof… okay. Let's get moving."

Doing so Danny pulled Ecto-4 ahead of the group and started to clear a path again. Spyro and Cynder decided to hope in Ecto-1 with Rachel while everyone else followed in the semi. Driving on they came across some cleanings that did help keep them moving despite the timely dead end. Everyone was trying to even keep them selves busy for the time. Listening to what music they had on their phones, talking, Leo even climbed up to the roof to talk to the guardians.

"So you're saying that this 'ape army' was hunted to extinction?" Leo couldn't believe what they had told him when he asked more about the war.

Cyril answered, "Indeed. Not many still live. But tribes who fought with the dragons made peace and are far away from this."

"Damn... If we knew about this before and for here the army could of bombed the hell out of Malefor."

"What do you mean 'bombed'?" Volteer asked. The tone of wanting to know clear as day.

Leo sigh, " 'Bombed' is a word meaning of using a set of explosives to destroy something. Some can range form the size of the Ecto to a tiny pinch of salt-"" _Hey Leo. We need yeah up front."_

"Coming Derek." he got up from his spot and step off the vast equipment. "Sorry gentlemen but I'm afraid I have to cut this class short."

Volterler seemed to perk up. "You teach? What majors?"

Leo shrugged. "Sometimes I do. Mostly at Columbia University. Mostly parapsychology since I'm in graves with the aspect." At that he heads back to the front of the truck. Slidding down the spoiler and to the passenger door. When he disappeared Volteer had a massive grin on his face.

"No, Volteer." Terrador knew what he was going to say.

"But this is a perfect opportunity! Just think, we have eight brings from another world with unbelievable knowledge and technology that can greatly improve our world. Just think, if some new enemy came charging at the gate's like last time, he were nearly destroyed. But with their help we can build upon it. Make life easier. And in turn they can teach us about their culture and is about ours."

To say his two companions were moved would be a understatement. He made valid points that almost felt like a knife to the heart. Even after settling peace everyone was looking for better ways to defend themslves if war was to break out again.

"I agree with him." Cyril for their attention. "We do need to... What was the word Leo used... Evolve. Like what Leo discribed as the industrial revolution of their world. In just a decade or so their world went from something like ours to a unimaginable place. And who knows, maybe, just maybe we could go to their world and set up a connection. It would change everything."

The ice dragon readjusts his position so that he was more towards Volteer's side of the trailer. Both looked at Terrador, his word was usually final for when making the major decisions in Warfang. Looking at the two dragons. Two of whom he calls at times brothers, with wonder in their eyes he thought hard and deeply.

"I suppose... When all this is said and done," their eyes widen in anticipation. "That we can look into it." Without much care if he saa it the two dragons did a small dust bump. "But don't get your hopes u- _Woah!_ " he tell of the edge tail first. The entire truck jerked to a sudden stop.

Getting back to his feet he looked to the head of the group. "What a going on?!" he demanded.

No one answered as the piled out. "Why we stopping," Derek asked hopping out. Walking up to the head of the convoy. The group found them selves on top of a ridge that over looked a vast swath of land with another large river cutting through. A large clearing spanned from the shore line into the distance where the towering out line of their destination sat.

Some were impressed by the view. "Damn. Wish I brought the camera." Rachel said as she quietly brought out her phone and snapped a photo.

Leo came walking up to the edge with the map in hand. Unrolling it on Ecto-4's hood. "Something is very strange going on right now."

"Strange like what we should expect or strange like we don't know what to expect?" Jack asked.

Leo rolled his eyes at the remark. "Take a look around and see if you spot anything out if place."

Everyone looked around for what could possibly be out of place. "We don't see anything." Spyro replied.

"Oh, good. Because we should be staring at a city right now. This is where Crystal Line is suppose to be." this made everyone slowly turn to the scientist. The dragons had to do a double take of the map than the land.

"How is that possible?" Terrador dug his claws into the ground as he scanned the earth. "There was a entire settlement here just days ago."

" _Think the slime got it?"_ Roger asked from the chopper.

Pulling out his radio Leo called back. "Roger, Mike, what do you two see up there?"

Up in air Ecto-2 soared over the group and out over the delta. Going as far as what looked like they were at the river. Roger had his ecto goggles down looking over the land while Mike ran the sensors.

Picking up the radio Mike calls back, "Leo, in picking up a massive disturbance ahead of us."

 _"What's the levels?"_

Mike ran a another scan. "That's just it. Its not pke at all."

Roger looked at the screen before taking the radio. "I'm looking through the goggles and got nothing, Leo."

 _The Ground_

 _"Its just empty forest."_

"Alright, thanks guys." Leo stopped the radio on the hood and out a hand to his face. Derek reached over and grabbed it.

"You guys come on back and land. This might be awhile.

" _Copy."_

"I suppose we should set up camp here. Get a rest start in the morning. We'll hopefully have a plan to cross the river by tomorrow and make a V-line to the mountains." Nobody argued with him as they went to set up.

Going into the same formation as before but with Ecto-7 facing the hill and the chopper blocking the path they made. The team helped set up makeshift shelters were the guardians could sleep with their armorurs nearly piled beside them. In the center was now a large fire complements of Spyro that now had 3 large slabs of sheep meat cooking. When everything was fine nightfall had taken over the land. The only lights that were around was the moon, fire or the equipment laid about. Gathered around the fire as they are their meals Derek, Jack, Leo and Mike where all gathered around a pile of notes, books, rolls, a saber and super trap, and a proton pack. Having curiousity win them other the two legendaries walked over to see what was up.

"What you guys up to?" Spyro asked stepping around them.

Derek answered, "Trying to figure out if capture is a better choice over eliminate." This made everyone else not present to look at him.

"Why?" Cynder thought that the choice was clear. "Just destroy it and we'll be done."

Leo shook his head. "Cynder, when Malefor was destroyed by you and Spyro, them why do signs point to him being back?"

This left many, even other Ghostbuster confused. "Its like what happened on the video with Gozer the Gozarian. The team crossed the streams, blew up the door way and destroyed him. But 7 years later he's back. But in the case of when the team captures the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Boxer's destructor form, he couldn't come back and was picked away in the containment grid."

"But one problem with that right now." Jack added tapping the super trap. "The portable unit is almost full and can't handle what power Malefir might have eight now. Black slime or not, we're trying to boost the power of this trap so that it can hold a food chunk of him while we use saber traps to contain his entity separate."

"Which is why we brought you guys." Derek points to the 3 elementals. "While we have some serious fire power your powers," he nods to Spyro and Cynder. "The two of them alone can do unbelievable things that he already knows. But with all 13 of us, he doesn't stand a chance. And as for everyone. You guys all hit the sack. I'll keep watch again." he stands up from his spot and grabs his pack. Throwing if on as he climbed up the trailer.

"Oh, Derek," he stoped as Rachel ran into the trailer. Running back out with two bottles of his favor drink and tossing them up to him.

"Thanks." he climbed up the rest. Everyone dispersed to their sleeping arrange ments. Rachel and Leo once again took the trailer. Jack went to the semi itself for the sleeper inside. The brothers were back in the truck but this time both had the front seats pulled all the way back. Mike also set up front in the cadillac with Roger sheltering himself in the chopper. The dragons all went to their places, the guardains in their tents and Spyro and Cynder in the back of Ecto-4.

Climbing back over the gap Derek sits himself back on the truck's roof with his feet holding him up against the emergency lights. "Good Night!" He calls out. Receiving just a few back.

 _Later..._

As the night went past the half way point, Derek stayed awake with his gun on his lap. Using his goggles he scanned sound the area, mostly the valley for anything that might raise alarm. From what the camp was, the dragons had all falling into hysterical positions in their tents with Spyro half way over the truck's tailgate. The large fire had all but burned down to a small thing that Derek added wood from time to time. Looking back to his right he scanned the valley again and then turned to face the back of the trailer.

What he saw was a large pink mass slowly stepping towards him. Instinct told him to swing his thrower around and fire but the shape of the figure was all to familiar.

"Hello, Cynder."

She froze instantly. "How did you see me?" He taps the goggles. "Oh." The pink blob shifts back into her black form as he pulled the goggles up. Having to run his eyes from the change in light. He watched as parts if her body shifted from clouds of shadow to solid scales.

"I swear we're going to have to document how you do that."

"How come?" She stretches over the gap and slides down beside him.

"Human nature to be curious." He answered. Looking back to the star filled sky. Rubbing his eyes with his glove he was struggling to stay awake. "So why'd you cone up here again?"

"Figured you could use some company like last time. You're tired than last time." He chuckled at the answer. Both looked up to the starry night as both moons where in their full glory. Placing his gun on the lights Derek reached around with his left arm and pulled himself up some with. Even after being here for what felt like a month he still couldn't get over the fact of this different world.

"What you said about Malefor," He looked over to Cynder who was in deep thought. "Why can't we just finish him off."

"Capturing him would be better than destroying because of his form. You can kill the body but not the soul at the same time. What you to did was banish his physical form, leaving his spirit without a shell."

"And with the slime, he's building a new one." Her eyes looked to him. Getting a confirming nod.

"With it can make himself into anything he pleases. Create his own army, take anyone u see his control. On top of that as a ghost he can do so much more. Which is why right now capture out weighs elimination."

He wasn't wrong at all. Most of the time it was just destory the boss and get over with it. But that wasn't how it always worked. Derek learned that the hard way years ago when on the day his search got out.

"And what happens... After this?" Cynder's voice almost seemed to break away from its natural tone to one of worry. Derek had heard that kind of voice before, and usually didn't like it.

"If the plan does work, we'll still have the problem with the slime ans mandala. Without him as the focus point all the energy will be backup into the system making whatever the node guardians are stronger. Since we don't know this world like you do we'll have to wait still a sign of heavy activity before we can act. And hopefully get back home. But that's just what he hope for. *Yawn* For now."

"Why don't you get some sleep. I can watch over." She asked. He yawned again, but before he could protest he looked directly intk her eyes. The 'if you don't do it I'll make you do it's look that he tends to mostly fet from Rachel.

"Fine... Just, wake me up when something happens..." He shifted his position before sleep over took him like a storm. Letting out shallow breaths ever couple of seconds. Staying where she was Cynder liked around some before shifting back to Derek. Checking if he was really asleep she moves around so that her back rested against his side. Using her wings as a blanket she placed her head in the inside if his out stretched arm that he onto the spoiler. Letting sleep take her over as she exile a sigh.

 _Snap!_

Cynder jolted from her sleep. Her shadow element quickly raved through the darkness as lookwd for what made the noise.

 _Snap!_

Something was coming. Quickly getting to her feet she accidentally smacks Derek with her wing.

 _"_ Derek, there's something coming!" She said in a quiet but loud tone. Hearing her he grabbed his gun.

"Can you tell how many?" He ran across the trailer. Stopping just before the door.

She ram up beside him. Closing her eyes as she took in the different life signatures. "Atleast 3 dozen. Very large."

Derek quickly thought out a plan. Jumping off the side he stumbles before flying g open the drives door. Yanking down the horn. "INCOMING!" He shouts in tandem.

Around the camp everyone jumps up out of their sleep. The Guardians all roared from their sleep, Flinging around their bodies that caught their tents around them. Spyro jumped out of the bed of the truck with a sharp yelp and flew straight up.

Slamming into a tree.

As fast as they can (they actually do try to set speed records for gearing up.) Each Protonix Ghostbuster got suited, armed, and ready. Everyone gathered at the backside of Ecto-7. Cynder stood at the center with the team split 4 on each side. The Guardians dawned their armour and hoped back on the roof. Spyro, finally unfazed from the previous hit on the head, flew aroumd and landed between the black dragoness and leader. Getting into his battle pose as they waited. The soubds and now lights came closer and closer, causing everyone to power up.

Just as they did the screams of a battle cry broke the silence as the tree tops were violently shaken. A small horde of armour creatures came running out of the bushes below the hill. What surprised everyone how ever was that most of them looked like dragons.

"STOP RIGHT THERE OR WE'LL SHOOT!" Derek yelled as he and the others flip the safety's off their packs. But they kept ccoming.

Not wanting blood spilled Spyro musteref every inch of his inner beast, and roared out. " **STOP.** "

The charging horde instantly hit the brakes as they gazed up to the group. All eyes from what the team could see in the dark shifted to purple dragon before them.

"Spyro?" A male voice came walking out of the bushes. Carrying a bow in hand and dressed in leather padding a human like figure walked u to the group. At first the Ghostbusters were shocked to see any other human. But we're even more surprised when they saw his actual body. It was that of a litteral cheetah. Fur and all.

Spyro loosened his rage enough to where he could reckonize the voice. "Hunter?"

At that the cheetah dashed over to him. "Oh it is good to see you old friend!" He sqwatted and wrapped a arm around. Bring the dragon into a hug.

"You've been doing good yourself I see." He chuckled. Just then a grunt gets his attention. Looking over he saw Derek slowly walking up to the pair. His gun held tightly to his chest with the instinct of sliming the trigger. As he got closer Hunter dashed in front of the dragon drawing his bow. Derek doesn't stop until he was five feet away.

Spyro quickly stepped around him and lowered the bow down with his claw. "It's okay, we're with him and he's with us."

Nodding Derek stepped forward stretching his left hand out. "Derek Stewart of the Protonix Ghostbusters. This is my team -"

"Silence your mouth, ape." He pointed his bow at Derek's head. He stiffened a little but knew that if he fired that arrow, where he stands would become a crator.

"Spyro, come with us. We well help deal with these monstrosities." He tried to pull the dragon with him but Spyro back up to Derek's side.

"Sorry Hunter. But you got the wrong people. Did you know what happened in Warfang data ago?"

"I did. The whole city of Crystal Line knows about the 8 warriors who defeated the great monster."

Derek decided to add, *And that was us." He points to the group. "Went down in the sewers. Found a crap ton of slime, got chased, took a pebble to the knee, blew up the sewer and street along with a messy fight with a Slor."

Just then laughter got their attention. "PPPPFFFFFfff- HAHA! YOU TOOK A PEBBLE TO THE KNEE?" Danny roared in laughter. Much to Derek's dismay. "You had a knee pad and three thick layers if clothing on and that brought you down?! HAHA! You sure it wasn't a arrow?!"

"It'll hurt less than the boulder you won't see coming." Derek shot back. But Danny still continued.

"Why right. Like that's gonna-AH!"Just then a large engine sized rock crashed in front if him. Thankfull for the silence he saw Terrador smirk and give a nod.

"Anyways..." He turned back to the cheetah. "We were on our way to the mountains and planned to make a pit stop at Crystal Line. Than go straight to them.

"And pray tell, " the anthro said with venom. "Why should we believe you."

"Because we're the only ones in this world who know how to handle ghists and monsters." Everyone nodded in agreement. Hunter looked directly into the human's eyes. Being almost a foot shorter made it slightly harder to look intimidating but he tried to break him. See the sign that betrayal was staring at him. But what he saw wasn't that.

What he saw was a man leading his team on a mission unlike anything he or they gave done. It took a moment before he made his decision. "Very well. Cone with us back to the city and we will decide your situation."

"First let us gather our stuff first." Derek said with him nodding. He and Spyro headed back to the group as so did Hunter.

"What's the plan?" Rachel asked stepping forward.

"Pack up everything. We're going to Crystal Line, but be ready. From this montent I can tell things are about to get tougher." They bid and quickly dash around to clean up the camp. Derek's attention soon shifts to the guardians.

"Can you three get Ecto-2 up there?" They all looked to each other. Then behind where the chopper was and nodded.

In what could be their fastest time yet, the team loaded everything in the trailer and the dragons for the helicopter on and strapped down. Once it was all said and done Derek walked up to opposite group. We're all set. We'll keep our distance and follow you."

"Very well. Come." He started walking back to the site ton they came.

Derek ran back up to Ecto-1 and git in the driver's seat. Rachel sat in the front seat with Spyro and Cynder hanging on the roof rack. Powering up the engines the sudden nosie made many jump back and draw their weapons. They were shocked to see the four massive white objects cone to life with their emergency lights now a solid white. Adding a glow to them and the area. Slowly driving down the hill Ecto-1 pulled up to the group, Derek stuck his head out the window.

"See what by keeping our distance. Just try not to get run over." He went back in as the others came down. Ecto-4 was right behind them with Ben standing in the back with the cannon in hand. The three guardians all matches down with Terrador directly in front of Ecto-7 and the others flanking the truck. Taking a moment to process this new strange sight the cheetah turned and head intk the forest. Thankfully the path was clear enough for the vehicles to easily pass through.

Inside Ecto-1 Derek pulled the radio off, "Everyone be on guard. Keep guns at the hot and elements ready. We're on our way."

* * *

As the team were lead towards the city, the Chronicler watched through the mirror.

"They are going quite well so far." Ignitus strolled by. Earning a hum from the dragon.

"I just hope that they will be ready for what is to come very soon." he looks over to the fire dragon who was holding a old red leathered book. "Did you find it?"

Ignitus nods, "It wasn't hard, but..."

"But?"

"...But this had prevented it from being opened." holding the book out the Chronicler's eyes widened. The book was soaked in black slime with a glowing symbol burned on the cover.

"By the ancestors…" he carefully took the book from the dragon. Staring at the purple symbol that looked like it was something keeping a portal closed. It looked much like the Icarea symbol he saw Leo show the others. But this one had many, many more symbols. The new dragon realm symbol had several orange lights with one a flickering blue.

 _"I fear there is something far worse than just Malefor on the horizon…"_

* * *

 **But when there's no one to turn to, when the light fades away,**

 **Who can you Call?**

* * *

6 Chapters left. Next time, the Protonix Ghostbusters show how they really do business.

This chapter turned out to be alot bigger than I intended it to and left out a extended moment but i feel it turned out alright. By now my first story would of only had 13,000 words and now I'm over 110k. Damn. And it's good to know that there are actual people reading this.

This chapter does have a few nods and references that most would probably get and this part is just for filling it out to a ebem number. And now it's 6,000.


	20. Not Welcomed Here

Chapter 20: Not Welcomed Here

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

As the large group slowly headed down the hill towards what they were hoping to be a checkpoint in their travel, the large search party kept all eyes on the group of vehicles following behind. Hunter had moved further back so that he was now walking in front of Ecto-1 to shout back and forth to Spyro. Derek had to be extra careful not to go to fast or slow and kept the cruise control on.

For the two friends it was a nice chat in what had happened for the past few years. But Hunter with what he can tried to keep some information out of the conversation in with glances towards the vehicle's occupants. But to his unknown they couldn't hear anything thing but Spyro's voice over the sound of equipment, the tires going over the timely rock and the AC on full blast. Just as they heard Spyro shout a reply, Hunter turned his head enough to glare at the windshield.

"He knows that we can't really hear them that well, right?" Rachel looked to Derek.

"Nope."

As they drove on Derek was keeping a close eye on the dashboard. Just above the glove box was a small monitor that was linked to the roof rack sensors. One was a screen similar to the Pke Meter but with just a five point bar graph. But the bars that were for the most part stayed in the low range slowly began to spike as they drove on.

Grabbing the radio he calls back to the semi. "Hey Leo, you getting this?"

" _Yes. I would like to stop and get a better reading_."

"Alright." Clipping the radio back he slams his hand on the wheel. Causing 3 loud honks to completely startle everyone ahead of them to quickly raise their weapons. Seeing he got their attention Derek brings the car, and the others to a stop. Opening the door he steps out. Realizing what just happened Hunter stomps over with his bow tightly in hand.

"Just WHAT," He pulled his arrow back. Just inches for Derek's chest. "Do You Think You're Doing."

Derek didn't answer as he just side stepped the cheetah. Heading and opening the back door of the car. Reaching in one of the several compartments that housed some of the smaller equipment he pulled out his Pke meter and ripped his Proton Rifle off the roof. Seeing the sudden weapon the Hunter's group all pointed to him. But being what he goes Derek just activates both and scans the meter around. Keeping the gun raised to his chest with meter stretch all the way out. It quickly begins to flash and buzz wildly the wings with almost reaching full extent and the screen a solid green.

Stepping out closer to the forest around them he trained the meter towards the direction they were moving in. Passing by the hateful glares and sharp points he reaches the head of the group. The wings now to their fullest with the center bar flat topping.

"Run the Sniffers!" He shouts back. On every Ecto a small orange arm with two tubes pointing out hummed to life as they spun around. Letting out small bleeps of light every few seconds. The sensors go around a full circle before rapidly pacing back and forth pointing to where Derek was pointing.

" _Derek_ " Leo called from his hand held. _"I'm getting a massive bulge in these spikes. And it's getting closer."_

This made a many turn towards the leader. Not wondering what any of anything they meant but that something was coming.

"What does he mean?" Hunter asked with a little more concern than one would think.

"Come on Leo we need a more refined explanation."

" _You recall the latest energy waves after the Slor Incident_?"

"You mean the things that brought up large amounts of ghosts all over Warfang? Yes." This made everyone tense up.

" _Well, there is a VERY high possibility that a gigantic wave is right now approaching us from the mountains."_

This made many of the Ghostbusters tense up. Derek dashes back to Hunter, "How closer are we to Crystal Line?"

"Not far. Just over that ridge." He points to a hill that was ahead of them.

"Great. Get anyone that can fly to the city and warm them. And as for you," he grabs Hunter by his chest plate. Throwing him on the hood flat so that he faced forward. "Hold on like Hell. EVERYONE DOUBLE TIME!"

Hopping back in the car Derek shifts the car into four wheel drive (yes it has that too.) and floors the gas. The emergency lights on all vehicles switch out to their original flashing blues and yellows as the sirens filled the air. Ecto-1 and 4 both race down the path with Hunter hanging on to the top of the pull bar. The Guardians quickly take a running start before leaping into the air. Once high enough Leo puts the hammer down on the semi and races to catch the others.

In moments the team raced over the hill and down the incline. Just visible ahead was a stone bridge that linked across half way across the river before disappearing. Fearing of falling in Derek watched the other dragons fly over the river before they too vanished. Taking a glance at his meter and monitor both were flat lining pink. Hopping for the best case he speeds up. Ignoring the yells from others over the radio he sends Ecto flying over the ramp before becoming showered in a blinding green light.

Once it faded the five felt the car hit the stone ground with a loud thump. But what caught Derek and the others off guard was the crowded street filled with people. Acting quickly he steers as best as he could. Swerving past all kinds of beings while avoiding the timely stands. Watching the group in the air he saw they head towards a large towering building that resembled a castle with a mansion like design. Taking heed he surprisingly, to both Hunter, Cynder, Spyro and Rachel's horror, spins the wheel sharply till the car was now on a head on course with a large metal door. Honking the horn as much as he could his eyes widened as the door opened very slowly.

"EVERYONE BRACE FOR IMPACT!" He yells as everyone did what they could. Just as the car reached the gate, it was thankfully widen enough at the moment for the cars to pass through. The only damage being the sides of the pull bar and mirrors being scraped. But what made them quickly slam the brakes was that the courtyard they entered was much different and was filled with all kinds of activity. Smashing the pedal with both feet and even the emergency brake the cadillac and dodge both skid across the stone leaving twin trails before stopping just a yard from the steps.

" _WATCH OUT!_ " Leo's cries were met when everyone looked back to see the the semi start to jackknife. The trailer was ahead of the truck it self with Ecto-2 almost causing it to tip over. Everyone raced to get off and out of the vehicles as it came closer. Getting some distance to avoid getting caught in the crash. But thankfully, there wasn't. The trailer stopped just feet away from the rear bumpers before the trailer fell back on all wheels.

Seeing it stop the others ran over to the cab as Leo, Mike, Roger and Jack all sluggishly climbed out.

"You guys okay?!" Rachel yelled catching Jack before he fell from misstepping.

"Thanks…" he groaned before bring up his hand to his mouth when a sickening burp came up.

Leo walked away for a few before collapsing against the gas tanks. " _Never_." He said angrily pointing to Derek. "We are Never. Doing that again…"

"You said that last time it happened and now it did." He said helping his friend back up on his feet.

Back at Ecto-1 Hunter slowly slid of the front of the car. Rolling off and landing on his back with a thump and groan.

" _By the Ancestors…_ " he panted. Just then Spyro came crashing down at his feet. Holding his now sore horns with both claws.

"Trust me…" he looked to his friend. "You'll get use to it…"

Cynder was about to roll off the side that would make her land on him but was caught by a blue and white tail stretching out to stop her.

"Thanks, Cyril." He nodded as the others joined in.

Volteer was practically panting as he landed but Terrador was another story, "I haven't move that fast in years! YEAH!"

Everyone within hearing distance turn towards the earth dragon with shocked, dumbfounded and amused looks. Even being one of the biggest dragons present he tried to shrink back as much as he could. Rolling their eyes at his failed attempt the dragons, with now a slightly more rejuvenated Hunter, went over to the truck where the Ghostbusters still were resting for a moment.

"So what now?" Cyril asked.

Derek answered, "Everyone get their gear on and ready. Lock down everything. You guys try to stall anyone who comes asking what's going on."

They all nodded as the team dashed to their vehicles. Opening up the backs and pulling out their packs they quickly strapped on everything they could. Derek strapped on the same setup he had when went down into the sewers with his rifle, Rachel now had a Compact TL Pack on her left arm in addition to her pack. Danny and Ben both through on their equipment with Danny taking the Boson Pack instead of his.

"Hey!" Leo shouted to the older brother. Walking over in his own equipment but with a set of 3 Pke Disrupters hanging from where his trap would be that was now clipped on his power cell. In his hand was a small green tank that had a tube extended out from the bottom. A handle branched out underneath so that one could fire.

"Take this if you're gonna wear that." Danny nodded as he strapped the gun to his left arm.

The Guardians all gathered around Ecto-4 where their many pieces of armour that was placed in the bed if the truck. Clamping several all parts that grew and expanded over parts if their bodies, the three giants were covered mostly, save for heads, tails, wings and anything below the knees, in metal. Terrador had a heavily spiked silver suit that was a major offset from his own green color. Cyril was spect out in a gold suit with what looked like waves traveling down his back like the wind has blown them. Volteer sport a more bronze color with a much more rough surface. Two flaps arose from his back that clamped around the membrane of his wings.

Once both parties finished they gathered at the head of Ecto-1. Leo unrolled the map on the hood with his meter in hand. "Alright. With these current readings the wave will be her in 30 minutes. That's the only time we have to set up the Pke disrupters and prepare everyone in the city."

"And what will we do?" Hunter said squeezing through.

Derek answered, "We need to set up Disrupters, those things," he points to Leo who turns to show the tripods. "Around the city and get Ecto-7 ahead of the wave. It will make an energy shield around the inside diameter of the equipment and block out any paranormal."

"Hunter." A stern voice made everyone turn to the front door of the castle.

Standing their was a dragon roughly a size under Cyril with a dark blue color and a under belly just a tad darker in shade. 5 horns curled behind his head with two of them reaching a good length down his neck. His body was covered in a armour similar to Terrador's but with larger spikes that went all the way to his tail. Behind him was a set of at least 20 other dragons dawning more complete sets with spears all pointed at them.

But the look on his face was anything but one of curiosity, but that of blood rage. The kind you would see someone make when their mortal enemy was right in front of them. His eyes were locked directly on the eight humans that stood at the center of the group.

"YOU BROUGHT THESE FILTHY APES TO OUR CITY!?" His outburst made many around to jump or at minimum, flinch in reaction. But this only made the Ghostbusters slightly pissed off. They did hear about the whole Apes are Bad gimmick for a while now. And are ones to do something about it.

Hunter stepped forward, "No Sir. These are the ones known as the-"

"SILENCE." He cut the cheetah off. "I will not have traitorous men. Or let our city be discovered by the dark forces. Kill Them!" The order hit the many guards as they rushed forward to do so.

But before the team could pull their guns the five dragons surrounded them. Spyro, Cynder and Hunter at the head with the Guardians forming a semicircle with the car filling the gap.

"STAND DOWN, ALL OF YOU!" Terrador's voice carried like a earthquake as everyone stopped in their tracks.

"Terrador?" The one dragon said in amusement. "What a wonderful surprise. I didn't know that it was you in your old armour." He gazed at the others. Taking note of Volteer, Cyril and the Legendaries.

"My, my, this is a surprise. Did you come to deliver these disgraceful creatures to us?" The dragon was met with a wall of stern looks. Obvious that it wasn't the case.

Spyro stepped forward, "We must speak with the King. This is extremely urgent."

Giving it a long thought, the dragon eyed everyone. The when he landed pm the team his eyes flickered with a inferno. But was surprised when everyone sent back their own storm or a stare.

"Very well than. I will take you to his Majesty." He signals the guards back inside. Turning back he goes to enter but glances back. "And keep your pets in line."

Danny was about to fire a boson when the dragon wasn't looking but Mike pushed the thrower down shaking his head. They all turn to Derek who nods his head forward.

"Let's-""Go" he looked down to Spyro. The purple dragon just shrugging at the strange timing before they moved forward. The two legends and Hunter went ahead with the Guardians following them up the stairs and into the darkness. The Ghostbusters hesitate before climbing up. Bit before they entered Derek held his arms out stopping them for a moment.

"Mike, Jack, Roger. Pull 'em and heat 'em up. Everyone be ready if anything happens. If it's alive, weak settings. If it's a ghost. You know what to do."

Everyone nodded as they dashed to catch up. When they entered the apparent castle they were surprised to see the form of décor and design of the building. Torches were the only sources of light that gave the hallways a reddish glow with the air making them flicker. Causing some of the darker places the light doesn't reach to faded in size. To them it really felt like they were back in Shandor Castle when it was 'liveable' at the time. What did make Derek and Leo both wonder was the amount of banners hanging all around them. Each one depicted what seemed like a major event from a few houses, when the city was most likely first settled. To what appeared to be the 'Kings' from late times. But just one thing stood out between each one.

" _There seems to be a heavy liking of the color Red._ " Leo whispers to Derek who nodded. A few turns later the group arrived in a massive circular chamber that was pure eye hurt from so much red. Several more guards stood in place around the walls with one larger dragon sitting on a throne. He was significantly larger than anyone they saw so far, easily compared to Terrador's size. He was a dark red with a underbelly a bright orange, brighter than Spyro's that have off almost a ere glow in the low torch light.

Walking up to a small step up divided the room in two levels where the dark blue dragon came up to.

"Your Majesty." He lowered on his front claws with his head hung low to the ground. The other dragons followed the motion till they all were bowing. Looking to back he saw the team not doing as told. _"Bow you worms!"_

Forcing the urge to shoot him, the team complied and kneeled down with their heads facing the ground.

"Rise." His voice boomed off the walls. Everyone rouse back up as the blue dragon went over to a place beside the king. Standing up from his throne he gracefully walked over to the edge of the small staircase.

"I am King Redstone the 14th of the Crystal Fire Dynasty. State your business of disrupting my fair city."

All eyes of the group looked down to the Ghostbusters. Then all eyes shifted between the leader and scientist. Shrugging Derek clears his throat before stepping forth past the dragons so that he was directly in front of the king.

"I'm Derek Stewart of the Protonix Ghostbusters, your highness. My team and I," he gestured to the others, "were in route to the mountain chain just East from here. Our original plan was intended to stop here to rest up and restock supplies before heading there. But when we saw the city wasn't here he decided just to camp where we were at the moment until he found your party heading towards us."

" _Hmmm_ …" the king's eyes narrowed on the human. Derek knew the look he was getting. He got it when he and the others stood before the US Congress about their business. But right now this wasn't Congress, but a 20 foot tall dragon king.

"Than it was you." He points down confusing Derek. "You sent the white roaring beast over my city."

"Roaring white beast… You mean our helicopter."

The blue dragon seemed to get ticked off by the correction. "DO NOT QUESTION HIS-"

"SILENCE, WAVE." The dragon cowered back into his spot. Making sure he was quiet the dragon turned his attention back.

"What is this 'helicopter'?" he asked.

"It's a human invention, a machine that's used for transportation in the air to carry people and cargo over far distances that on the ground can't cover. We use it to travel and investigate from the air."

"Hmmm… And prey tell, what is that -" "Sorry your highness " Leo squeezed walked around the group with his Pke out.

"But we're losing valuable time. Right now a massive psychokinetic wave is about 13 minutes away from hitting this city with unbelievable amounts of psychic energy. We need to prepare the city for the worst."

Redstone stood their with a dumbfounded look. Everyone who didn't know technobabble was beyond confused.

"What my friends mean is there is a large amount of ghosts, monsters, and whatever else there can be is coming from the mountains and gonna hit here and start tearing up the city." Derek mouth a thank you to Spyro for a more dumbed explanation.

But instead of understanding, Redstone erupted into laughter. "HA! GHOSTS? HAHAH….aaa…! What do you take me for. A fool?!" His voice drastically changed. That of what one would sound like if insulted.

"Believe me, I was surprised when I first saw these things. But with our time during the past few weeks now we've seen stuff that will turn you white." The Ghostbusters all looked at the dragon in amazement at how close he sounded like Winston Zeddemore. The however, stayed solid to his thoughts.

"While I do respect you, The Legendary Purple Dragon, but this is all but a myth. No doubtedly pledged by those wretched creatures." Everyone shouted in protest. It was getting to the point where they knew someone was ready to aim and fire.

"Now. I'm going to act like this conversation never happened. The give of you will be sent to separate quarters for the time being till we can understand what effects these apes have brought upon you."

The dragons all were dumbfounded, "WHAT?"

"And as for you." Redstone focused on the humans. Mike, Roger and Jack all flipped their safeties off and the others were half tempted to pull 'em. "Guards. Take these flesh bags to the dungeons and prepare the-"

He didn't finish his statement. Everyone looked at him in curiosity as he stood there frozen. Spyro was about to ask if he was okay when the room started to vibrate. Terrador especially could feel the start of the tremor growing as the whole room began to shake. Dust from the roof floated down with what was on the walls now falling off. The Pke still in Leo's hand quickly flatlined in green to the top with the wings flashing to their fullest extent. For most people they would think it was a earthquake. But the Ghostbusters knew what it truly was.

"IT'S HERE!" Leo shouted as everyone were knocked to the floor. The quake became worse until a purplish blue light flew through the walls and disappeared. Every sensor on the Ghostbusters started blaring as the quake subsided.

"Ugh…" the king rubbed his temple. "What was that?"

"THAT your highness," Derek looked at the dragon with a look that could kill. "Is trouble. Come on!" Running back the way they came the team powered up their packs and vanished. The dragons all quickly scramble to catch up. Dissappearing past the doors.

"Guards! With me!" Redstone shouted as everyone in the castle followed him out. Weaving past the halls the two legends both boomed from the main door.

"Guys!" Spyro jumped the stairs to where it opened upp into the courtyard. At the far end where the same gate they drive through the team stood side by side with their guns in hand. They weren't alone. Several guards and citizens all stared off into the distance.

"Guys?" He walked around to Derek's side. Derek takes a single quick glance to his friend before nodding his head forward. When everyone saw it they looked in the direction the team looked. In the distance where the snowcapped mountains should be was now a wall of pure blackness. Growing in size as it became wider and taller. One could easily confuse it as a bad storm traveling in unimaginable speeds.

"What in the name of the Ancestors is that?" Terrador asked.

"Look closer." Derek said lowering his goggles. Everyone squinted their eyes to try to see what he meant. Dragon sight was best kind of vision that any being in Avalar could have. Seeing things for miles. But when they adjusted their eyes to look closer, what they finally saw was something that made all their jaws drop. The wall was a tangled mess of creatures of all kinds that where charging towards the city. The Ghostbusters, with the help of the goggles, could easily see a vast mix of Black Slime entities ranging from waist high Crawlers to full fledge Abominations. Screechers by the dozens, if not hundreds dotted the sky above.

Cynder was the first to become struck with shock, "What the Hell is that?!" she turned to the Ghostbusters.

None of them answers as they all fiddled with their stuff. Their packs all let out a deeper hum than usual. Derek cracked his neck once before switching his pack to Electron Beam. "That, is a Infestation."

* * *

5 Chapters Left in Arc 1. I added another to separate this chapter and the next to make the first Arch a solid 25 chapters.

Yes, that orange device on the roof rack of the real car is called the Ghost Sniffer. It's just like the Pke.

The TL Pack is from the GB comic Tainted Love where it first showed a arm mounted pack. The green tank gun is a Miniature Slime Blower that resembles the gun upgrade from the Wii.

Next chapter would be like a preview of the Infestation story with what the team did during the New York incident.


	21. Army of Monsters

Chapter 21: Army of Black

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

CrystalLine.

A beautiful city that when the Sun is just at the right position can make everything glow like a diamond on the surface of the planet. But now that glorious light was gone. Disappeared behind a wall of pure black that was heading towards them at terrifying speeds.

Standing at the front gate of the palace the eight Ghostbusters and several dragons all stood watching it approach.

"Leo," Derek called over to his friend. "Thoughts?"

Everyone paid close attention at what he was going to say next.

"Horde mass. Couple of thousands or tens of thousands ranging from both capture and eliminate capabilities. Possible 3 trillion gallons of black slime making up every single entity. Traveling at roughly 120 miles per hour that will hit this very spot in couple of minutes."

The dragon's' jaws all dropped like lead weights. The Guardians were baffled at the sheer amount of black slime that was coming. King Redstone, Wave, the small group of guards and several hundreds of the city's residents stood in shock and disbelief. For the two legendaries however, they stood frozen where they stood. Spyro had never truly seen a force with such size coming at him. True he was at times outnumbered in battles but that was just a few dozens. Cynder on the underhand had old memories flashing passed her eyes like a home movie of when she lead such a force against others.

Derek looked back to Redstone, "Where's the direct center of the city?"

"This is it." He points to the courtyard. Derek glances between the dragons and the horde. A plan was quickly being formed.

"Leo, Jack, get the Disrupters up and running now. Set a radius of at least a mile." They nodded, quickly running back to Ecto-7 to prepare the units. The sound of the main gate dropping made Derek turn to his head pilot.

"Roger," he looks over, "You take Danny up in the air and start laying down some slime lines. Try and slow that horde down as much as you can. Danny, if anything that's black tries to attack you two you turn it around or take it down."

"Max Power?" He held up his thrower, hand on the knob that would change the Boson Pack's settings. Derek smirked before giving him a nod of approval. Danny's grin grows as he turned it all the way up before running to join Roger who was already priming Ecto-2 for take off.

"Everyone else, follow me."

Derek runs back to the vehicles. Hoping in the trailer he drags out his motorcycle as the others pile into Ecto-4. Ben jumps on the back mounting the cannon as he primes it's charges. Mike jumps into the driver's seat as Rachel rod shotgun. Shoving her seat back so that she could still wear her protonix pack inside. In the trailer Derek was just finished unlatching Ecto-X1 from the floor; watching as Jack and Leo ran about the equipment side and back flipping a variety of switches.

As he pulls the bike put he looks back to the pair, "We'll leave Ecto-1 here for you two to join us." Leo nods as he went back to work. Outside the others all gather around wondering what to do. Some asking but being answered the same.

"Just follow us. COME ON PEOPLE LETS GO!"

He roars his engine, gunning the throttle so hard his front wheel pops into the air for a moment before Derek rocketed out of the courtyard. Ecto-4 blares its siren with its blue lights now emergency red as it followed closely behind. The group then watched as the helicopter soars above them and the city. All three heading towards the direction the horde was coming from. The dragons were debating if the humans were brave or down right crazy. But the Warfang dragons knew enough to know the answer. Stepping forward Spyro takes a few steps before looking back to them,

"Come on. They're gonna need our help."

He runs toward the gate before giving his wings a few good flaps. Cynder ran up closely behind as she used her Wind to give a little extra lift. Not long after the three armed Guardians looked at each other for a second and took off.

Redstone and his men were left stumped at what to do.

"What now your highness?" One guard asked.

The king continued watching the horde come the East. "Clear out the entire east side if the city immediately. Get everyone to the palace and to safety."

"Yes Sir!" The guards quickly dispersed to the city streets.

"Wave, Gather your best men and prepare for imminent attack." Wave bows quickly before rushing back into the castle.

Further away from the king the group had finally gotten past most of the city itself. From the ground the team and dragons could hear the sound of roaring and explosions going on in the distance. Eyes clearly seeing the white, red and green helicopter racing through the sky as it shot a endless of spray of slime that covered the dead zone of land like trenches used in world war 2. Monsters to oblivious to this ran head first into these lines, causing their bodies to shake in pain as their lower half was melted away away. Things like ghosts and screechers flew past their dying without giving too much of a glance. But they too weren't saved from this as they were pounded by Boson Darts raining from the sky. Compliments of Danny who was strapped into a harness while hanging out of the chopper's side. With just Ecto-2 the massive horde was quickly falling apart before the group's eyes. the closer they got the more they could see with great detail that different creatures that fogged the area. To the Guardians it sent chills and stabbed at old memories from the more bloodier parts of the war.

Seeing how close both sides were getting, the dragons all slowed down till they hit the small wall that boarded the entire city. But as they did the Ghostbusters still speed on.

"Guys, what's the plan?!" Cynder shouts. Hoping that atleast Derek could hear her. But they didn't hear her. They didn't stop, only getting closer and closer. Not heeding to bits of still living monsters that dotted the land. Derek easily weaved by at breakneck speed. But for the unlucky ones they were might with a proton blast or the truck's giant tires.

Easing on the throttle Derek stays just ahead of the truck, "You guys ready for this?!"

"Ready!" they answer together.

"NOW!"

Just yards away from the still unbelievable force, both vehicles turn sharply as Derek went to the right and the others to the left. Hitting a trail of slime Derek jerks the bike into a practical power slide. Locking the front wheel as he brought out his guns. Holding with such precision he fires a blast stream from his rifle, a relentless cascade of waves from his canon via the feramon shock and a jet of slime from his thrower. On the other side the others were doing their own damage. Mike, while holding one of his pistols out and firing at what he could, kept Ecto-4 at a distance as Rachel and Ben fires at the wall. Using her pack and the Shock Gun Rachel fired a dual stasis stream that twisted together. Almost like crossing the streams, crossing stasis streams acts the same in intensifying its power. Some entities when touched literally became a solid statue of crystal. Waves it ghosts just fell to the ground as Ben easily destroyed them with the cannon or just weakening much bigger targets.

"YEAH! GET SOME!" he said hitting every target.

Not paying much care he reaches down into the bed of the truck while one handing the turret. Standing back up he chucks a Proton Grenade behind the truck, resulting in a massive explosion that took out another cluster.

In the distance back near the border the dragons, along with now Wave, Redstone himself decked out in magma armour that almost looked like he was wearing literal lava and several dozen soldiers that they had gathered while most were busy securing the city. To saw they were shocked at what was happening in front of them would be a understatement. Redstone and Wave both had their mouths dropped open by the fight going on with their men _slowly_ stepping back further.

 _**_ _ **SRRREEEEAAAA**_ _!**_

Without warning four slime abominations came charging straight at from a large slime pool that had collected on the ground from dead creatures. The monsters were at least as tall now as Terrador and Wave with parts of their bodies completely mixed with other creatures. Being the closest Volteer had to quickly side set the first one before it brought it claw down on his armour. A shower of sparks was made by contact of its claws as he continued to dodge it's attacks. The other 4 doubled up and head towards Terrador and Spyro. Both quickly bring up a large stone wall that curled around the two creatures before Terrador slammed a massive plate on the top. Taking to the air Spyro used his fire to start melting away at the rock. Making it become bright red and orange as it started to melt down. He was able to stop once the stone was now a bubbling pool of magma.

For Cynder and Cyril it was a little more different. Both monster would spew out a line of slime near them they would use it as a speed boost to charge at them. Cynder was able to counter this by using her Wind to redirect the slime away from her but Cyril was having problems. With his ice he would try to freeze the deadly substance that did prevent him from getting touched. But the monster would use this to its own advantage by using the ice as a ramp. The monster soon lays down another one as the guardian quickly froze it before it could reach him. This proved unsuccessful as it jetted a smaller trail and practically ice skated towards him. He had just a second before its large body slammed him like a freight train stopping in a dime. It's claw made its mark on his lower neck as parts of his armour were torn away. Stumbling back Cyril tries to regain his focus only to have two right fists collide with his head. Back over to Volteer, who now had the Wind dragon Wave by his side. Both were dumbfounded at how this one single monster was landing hit after hit while they struggled to keep a distance.

"I am growing tired of-" Wave swings his staff out. It connects to the monster's side but to his dismay it just cut straight through the slime. "...this."

Yanking the rod out he takes a few steps back. Now standing beside the lightning dragon who was right now tending to a large gash that was present on the base of his tail. Black slime as clear as he tried to move some of his armor over.

"You alright?" Wave asked without looking. Keeping his eye on the monster.

Bending around so that he was facing straight down he gently blew a small stream of electricity at the wound. A tingle warped through his body as the scales and skin closed over. Taking great care to avoid having the slime enter.

"I'll need on one of the human's slime blowers later but other than that. I'm fine-" At that second his maw dropped open. The sound of an electrical and gooey explosion made it clear that the now puddle on the ground. Wave was slightly impressed at how quickly the dragon was able to death creature.

"Not bad, Volt-AHHH!"

Wave crashes to the ground as 3 foot long claws now sunk into his scales just behind the base of his wings. The Screecher that clamped down him was shaking all around as it tried to dig deeper; making more of the black slime it was made of to leak into the flesh. Wave was letting out a silent scream as he felt the muscles that controlled his wings rip apart and be pulled from his body. It starts to spread apart the wound even larger, the Screecher and to Wave's relief, didn't see the massive red and black come dive bombing from the cloudy sky straight to the monster. Colliding with the force of a person being hit by a semi the Screecher, and to Wave's relief, was flown off his back but not without bringing a chunk of blue and flesh with it. It rolls across the ground several times before skidding to a stop. Roaring in anger it's eyes connected to King Redstone that stood between the monster and the two dragons.

"Volteer, get him to the others. Now."

Acting quickly the electric dragon came to the wind dragon's side hoisting him up enough for them to move. The king's attention then turns back to the Screecher whose talons were splattered in red that overtook the blackness. Its focus to locks on his eyes as the two slowly began to circle each other. Not breaking eye contact and waiting for the latter to dare make a move.

"You dare try to attack my city and its people." Redstone stops. Making the Screecher do the same. "You think that who you server will triumph."

The creature roars a reply. "You have another thing coming."

In a flash both giants charge forward. Leaping into the air at the same time Redstone gives his wings a hard flap pushing him higher up. The monster falls right underneath him as his own giant talons racks across where it's face would be. Feeling the unbelievable burning of touching the black slime, Redstone flies to the side digging his claws into the dirt. The Screecher collapses to the ground in agony as it feels it's head literally be spliced apart like a orange. Sliding a claw over it poured slime back into the wounds that reformed into its original state. Twisting around it dives after Redstone who was already charging with a double headed axe in hand. Swinging out the sharp edge hits directly at the base of the Screechers neck. Going straight through the entire thing as the slime quickly reformed. Dumbfounded he swings his axe back across. Getting the same result.

He goes to try again. And again. And one more time.

After the 6th time he steps back huffing. The Screecher looks up to him with a _very_ annoyed look on its face. Grumbling as if saying if he was done yet. Redstone seemed to know the gesture and goes to bring the axe straight down on the creature's head.

Diving down it thrusts to of its talons upward embedding them through his armour and clean through Redstone's hide. Yelling at the sudden feeling of the limbs nearly touch his windpipe, he tries hold back the sudden urge to yell but he holds that breath in. Using his body as leverage he uses his tail to splice the limb in half. Punching the creature's head they both stagger back some to avoid contact. Redstone quickly brought a claw to his wound as he could feel a warm liquid leaking out from his scales an armour. A offset of red as now dripping to the ground as he focused back to the monster. The Screecher quickly shook off the impact as it turned back to the dragon. More slime quickly filling in the gap made as it's wings sprouted out. It leans back and prepares to charge, it's claws spread wide to do as much damage as possible. Redstone prepares for the attack.

But nothing happened.

It stood there in the same position it did a moment ago. It's head began to grow with a rock like material forming that went all over down its neck and body. Expanding in size before the monster's head explodes in a shower of crystal as it's body collapsed to its knees. Chunks of what made it up was falling apart as the slime began to vanish. The four were surprised to see the monster just randomly die. But something else fixed that.

"Bulls Eye!" A new voice called out. All heads turned back to see Jack standing halfway out the Ecto-1's door with his thrower still smoking.

"Jack?" Cynder said in surprise. "I thought you were helping Leo?"

"I was. But he said he could finish it and told me to come - LOOK OUT!"

Everyone ducked as his proton stream sailed over them. Coiling at the sign that something was in the wrangler they watch as a massive screecher is sent flying over them and dunked straight into the roof mounted trap.

Venting his gun while blowing away the smoke from the barrel he casually leans back on the car. "That's two. Who's next?"

"Jack!" Volteer called out as he carried Wave over. Redstone was close by holding his chest. Running over Jack quickly switched to slime as the wind dragon collapsed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"What happened?" Volteer carefully turned the dragon's body over so that Jack got a full view of the damage. But the injury before him was much more than what his knowledge knew. And the slime on his pack wasn't the right kind.

"We're gonna need to get the slime blower from Ecto-7 to fully heal him." he says as he sprayed down the blue dragon. Emptying the tank he turns towards the king. Blood was gushing out from behind his hand at the puncture point. Quickly scanning over him with his goggles the damage wasn't like what have had.

"Get him out of here." He points to Redstone. "He's not getting infected but that wound needs healed."

At that any guard within range that wasn't wound from fighting other creatures quickly swarmed their king.

" _No_ … I will not stand here and watch

… my citizens parish…"

Just as he said that the familiar sound of a motorcycle grew louder as a white and blue mass jumped a hill and skidded to a halt. Looking up from the controls Jack could see the smug look on Derek's face.

"Nice of you to join us." He said sliding of the bike. Giving a few light kicks to ease out some tension. His focus then turned to the dragon.

"Get back to the city. You're no use in battle if you can't fight. Go, we've done this kind of thing before."

The king looked down at the leader. He had to give credit that a human that just went up to his knee had huge balls just to stand up here and order him to leave battle. But the sound of the chopper soaring by as it unleashed hell behind him like a hero walking away from a explosion was all he needed to know that the human meant it. Grunting as another wave of pain came he turned towards the city. His guards by his side as they helped keep him up. Once the king was gone Derek turned to Jack. Just then a large flash of light catches their attention as Ecto-4 came racing up to them. Running over the five monsters remains as it fishtailed into a stop. Ben continued to fire the meson cannon while Rachel jumped out to join them. Pulling both aside as a ghost came running up they hit the ground hard as Mike held it in place with a capture stream as Ben shredded it apart. Once it exploded into a black cloud the two men ran up to their teammates as they helped get back up.

"We're losing ground faster than we can hold it!" Mike yelled as he fired a set of bosons.

" _I don't know how long we can keep this up."_ Roger added.

Over the chaos around them, Derek grabbed his walkie with his free hand as his rifle fired and pack vented. "Leo, we need those shields now!"

" _Still working on that!"_

In the corner of his eye he could see Ecto-2 jerk sharply in the air as bosons shot all around it. Trying to fight of the creatures hanging on to the chopper as Roger did his best to stay in the air. Flying close enough to the ground Cynder was able to fly through the helicopter and fling the entities off. The ones that couldn't fly were vaporized be any dragon in the air or the busters on the ground. Nearly getting smashed by another giant rock Derek steadily makes his way backwards towards the group that was now forming around the vehicles.

"EVERYONE AT ONCE!"

Firing in unison the 5 Ghostbusters with every gun they could hold fired from their positions. A hellstorm of every weapon the team had at the moment was at full power and on the brink of overloading. Pouring out what mana they had in them, Spyro drew upon what was to be his biggest Fury to date. Cynder was traveling across the battlefield unleashing wave after wave of acids that were carried by the wind. Those who tried to avoid being hit soon realized that they could escape and were quickly blown away, crushed, torn apart or frozen on the spot. But despite the amazing display of power, they were quickly losing ground. The horde was quickly pushing the line back towards the edge of the city as everyone tried to hold them back.

"LEO!"

"ACTIVE THEM NOW!" Derek yelled just as the first set of buildings were crushed like paper. Everyone prepares to fall back until a loud whirl fills the air.

All eyes around the city focused to the semi trailer where the four towers were now fully extended with the red lights flashing. On each side four wings straighten out as a blast of blue entertainment built up at the core. The four towers then spring upward as four energy streams connected directly over the roof and shot skywards. The pillar of light grows in size till it seems to impact the air; bending down as a large circular dome dropped. Everyone in the city watches as the Disrupters branched closer to the ground as the shield began rotating, kicking up dust like a mile wide tornado as the horde grew closer. Those outside its range quickly ran into the city just as a bright flash indicated that the shield was now fully in place.

But before anyone could sigh in a bit of relief, a loud crackling sound got their attention as hundreds of entities pounded on the barrier blocking their path.

"What now?" Mike yelled. "We can't keep this up!" He quickly fires another wave of the feramon shock at a cluster before they hit the barrier.

Leo's voice then comes from everyone's radio." _I have a idea that might… work."_

Derek tore his radio off and yelled, "What is it?!"

" _If we can weaken them all enough, I could overload the capture field if all of our traps at once and cause a practical tornado and take them. I just need all of deployed at once."_

Spyro skids to Mike's side, "Will it work?!"

" _It might. But it would involve shutting the shield off for moment to allow the to be caught."_ Everyone slightly froze. The shield was the only thing right now preventing a complete takeover of the city

Derek answered, "It'll have to do. Jack" The technician looks back just as she slammed a cluster into her trap. "Get all the traps out, quickly!" he runs over to the Ectos and starts to dump all of the hand held onto the ground. Trying to spread them over a good distance.

"Everyone else try to hold them back! We need to buy them time!" He says as he fires another electron stream. Everyone else including the chopper hovering above switches to full slime blower trying to weaken them as much as possible. Spyro jumps behind the leader preparing his lightning once again as Derek opened the cores. The now intensified beam of lightning quadruples in size as it began arcing over the swarm. Spreading out as it's third fire, the Discharge Cage start over taking the countless horde.

"Hit it with everything you got!" He yells as now everyone present unleashed what they could. Fury's of every element lite up the area in a heavy red glow as they did as told. Over at the Ectos Jack was making quick work to synchronize all of the traps available.

Back in the center of the city Leo had just finished placing the last of the traps out in the courtyard. Making sure they and all the others were connected and ready. Running back into the trailer he went to the containment unit opening up the dump valves from both super slammers. His hands was on the switch that would deactivate the Disruptors for just a minute to allow the entities to pass through.

Snatching his ready from his belt he called back to the front lines. "Derek it's ready!"

" _ **HIT IT!"**_

Hearing the call Leo hit the switch and quickly slammed down the E-Vent lever on the grid. In seconds from both sides of the city a flash of light erupted like a volcano as almost every trap on the vehicles and ground burst open. Watching the traps jolt open Derek quickly cuts his stream.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Everyone stopped their attack simultaneously and dropped to the ground just in time as the traps let out a blast of pink energy. The horde was instantly caught by this as the thousands of creatures got caught into the pull of the capture field. In seconds a hurricane of the damned was flying over Crystalline, many having to shield their eyes from such light. But as fast as it started, it stopped. Each trap slammed shut as a flurry of red lights and smoke filled the air.

" _It's Done."_ Leo said from everyone's radio.

At the front of the city the team and dragons slowly got to their feet again. Once they did the instantly got into a fighting stance. Only to find the vast area that was covered in creatures was completely empty with just the signs of battle that remained. Jack pulled his Pke meter to give the area a quick scan. Finding very little traces of what was left.

"It's clear everyone." He said as they did breath out sigh.

The 5 Ghostbusters were just ready to collapse where they stood from the level of exhaust that hit them. The same couldn't be said for the dragons as everyone laid onto their stomachs to rest. Spyro was trying to hold back from doing the same whole Cynder gave on and fell onto his side.

"That… was… Hell…" she said between breaths. Spyro nodded slowly, trying not to move so much that he fell.

"Yeah… kinda feels like… the old days…" He let out a weak chuckle as she stood back up. Lightly punching his arm.

Meanwhile a few yards away, the three large elemental dragons were still on the ground. Their heads comically placed in line with each one a different take of the situation. Terrador had the look of complete exhaustion. Breathing heavily as he made bits of his armour retract to give him more room. To his right Cyril sat there with a blank expression that could rival any statue in history.

"That was… well…"

"-INCREDIBLE!" Volteer roared out in pure joy. Making the others turn to him with annoyed looks.

"I will have to agree," the earth dragon said slowly getting up. "It's been awhile since we did anything really like that."

While they didn't truly like being in such a level of combat, traveling to see fit the problem, this did help them in several ways. See how devoted the team was and skilled, see what they truly were up against and now had a better understanding of what to do to deal with them.

It made each dragon a few centuries younger.

Careful to not cause any possible injuries more harm, the three dragons slowly made their way towards Spyro and Cynder. At the sight if the two still standing made all three let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. But just as they came up to them all eyes soon locked on the Ghostbusters slowly making their way to them. Derek wheeling his bike as Rachel and Ben walk between him and the cars. The second they went over the border a familiar wave rippled back down behind them. As they approached the dragons filled the distance.

"Is everyone… alright?" Derek said trying his best to hold back his feeling to pant from lack of breath.

* _Ompf_ *

Everyone turns to the sound of the fall. To their surprise it was Spyro who had dropped himself across the bike. Both his tail and head hanging off the side like a corpse as the air escaped his nostrils.

"We're good…" he said not even looking up. Derek patted a hand on one of the sore dragon's horns earning a soft groan.

"Come on everyone. Let's head back."

The sounds of relief filled the air as they all turned back into the city. Not moving too fast but not just a slow crawl. Everyone looked around the city from their point in the street. Many of the builds were damaged because of the giant vortex that dragged the ghosts through the city. The residents were starting to come out and assessed the damage. When the group did pass by, they saw a lot of looks ranging from relief to gratitude. While mostly everyone didn't see this, Derek couldn't help but feel that things will most certainly change.

That is, until he felt a tap on the back of his leg. Looking to his right Cynder stood beside him while still keeping a hand on Spyro's head.

"So is this what it's like to Ghostbust?" she asked.

He chuckled, "In a way."

Following the damage path like a tornado had just come through it steadily cleared out to where only a few trees were missing all of their leafs. Around one corner they steadily walked/ drove through the castle's front gate. All around were several dragons being treated for injuries with crystals that went into their bodies. In the middle of the area facing towards them was Ecto-7 still in full glow. It's lights pulsing a steady white telling those the problem is now over. The Guardians break away to find one if the several healers as Ecto-1 and 4 pulled up parallel on the opposite sides of the trailer. Ecto-2 was already sitting on its roof with the underbelly cannon still red hot. Everyone instantly headed inside to get some much needed good and rest as Spyro sluggishly slid himself off of the motorcycle while Cynder helped keep him upright. He was okay in the physical sense but drained of energy. "I'm alright, Cynder. Just a little tired."

The shadow dragoness was about to counter it but was stopped by one sight. Seeing her focus on something else he looks around to a clear part of the courtyard where Derek was idly standing. His back turned to them with his rifle still in his hand looking up into the still smoking skies. The entire gave them both a idea of a warrior just barely winning a fight. Looking back to his friend Cynder twisted her head in a gesture to go over to him. Spyro hesitated for a moment before sighing. Carefully making his way over to the human as he barely moved. Walking over beside him the dragon could now see, even though he only went up to Derek's utility belt by the base of his horns, the bleak expression present on the leader's face.

"You alright Derek? That was pretty extreme fighting uh?"

Derek didn't answer.

" So what do we do now? If this was from Malefor than he's most currently getting ready for us."

The human didn't respond again. His gaze was focused on the fresh battlefield before them. Traces of black slime were already being removed by the large green pools that covered the landscape. Turning his attention for a moment to the dragon them back to the field, his focus went passed the horizon. Towards the now cloud covered mountains.

"We go right to the source. If Malefor is really there and this was just a test than we need to stop him, Fast."

Turning back they headed inside the trailer. The team all were sitting on anything they could as their eyes stayed closed. But Leo and Jack were missing.

"Where did those two go?"

"Back." Danny points to the end of the trailer.

Stepping by the human and dragon come up to the open door. All around was a mess of equipment either beeping loudly, lights flashing and a dense smell present.

"Leo, What's wrong?"

"We're almost full that's what's wrong." he picked up and handed Derek his tablet.

"I completely underestimated the volume of entities that we had captured. The grid is right now sitting at 97% capacity and both super traps are full. The same goes for Ectos X, 1 and 4 with 2 being just under half full. All our wireless or pressure traps are full and all we got left are Sabars."

This was something that heavily startled them. Truth be told they knew a wave of ghosts THAT large would be compared to some of their largest busts on record but even then most entities they came across were either destroyed, capture via a Sabar trap because of the space or sent back from which they came. To have nearly 40 different traps and a containment almost filled was a startling reminder of what they might come up against later down the line

"So what now?" Rachel asked as she and the others walked in behind them. Even the Guardians stood at the gate with their heads almost inside.

"* _sigh_ * Alright, Derek, how much is your trap at?"

Derek reaches down and unhooks his traps. Placing the loaded PT on the table before lifting the Sabar up so that he could read the screen at the front of the trap.

"13 percent full."

"Good. Alright, everyone grab the other 4 and any grenades we still have."

"What about the venues and gear?" Mike asked.

Spyro too added, "He's right. If this stuff is very dangerous and we go there," he points in the direction of the mountains. "How are we going to avoid being seen and that?"

This made the team pause for a moment. Where they were going they couldn't take anything but Ecto-2 up there. But they all couldn't fit everyone and thing in it.

"We may be of assistance." Everyone looked over to Volteer. "We can carry you all straight to the location with ease."

Everyone looked at each other with uneasiness. It was a risky idea but effective at that. Going with the idea they head out to gather what was left to get.

"Oh, Danny." The oldest brother looks back to see Leo holding his normal proton pack. "We need everything we can use." Sighing at the end if his fun Danny strips off his Boson Pack and places it in the equipment locker.

Outside the others were busy gathering the vehicles closely together to ensure that nothing happens to any of them. Jack and Leo were on the trailer doing a quick check over of the disrupters, debating if running them can burn up the extra energy in the PCU to free up some room. As they did they were obvious to the crowd that began to approach the group fairly quickly. When they did notice, they all froze at the thought that the people were about to attack. But instead, Redstone came walking through the crowd till he was at the head. "We shall guard your machines till you can return. And may the Gods of the Heavens guide you through these dark times."

Derek smiled at the sound of the king. "Thanks. But let us just hope these times will be over soon."

After the brief talk the team went back to gathering what they could. The end results was the 5 Sabar traps 7 grenades and to their greatest relief, the mega trap used during the training was thankfully saved from being filled. Taking the risk of having the PCU be completely full was one they were willing to take. Once Leo flushed the trap he brought it back out.

"Well…" His tone was enough to tell that bad news was present. "The storage facility is at full capacity now. If we do manage to capture Malefor than this is the only thing that can now."

"Wait, capture?" Terrador raised a suspicious brow. Everyone couldn't fully believe what he meant.

"There's two options it will come to when we face him. And that's capture or eliminate. You said you watched him get dragged down by spirits into the planet's core?" He points to the two legendaries. Both nodded.

"What you saw was his physical embodiment of this world. Because of the different realms in this world his spiritual energy still resides here and with the aid of the slime is just growing more powerful. Most entities in this situation would be to just cross the streams and blow them up. But yet their spiritual form still exists and thus they can come back. If we can capture him instead using this mega trap we can contain All of his energy at once and then destroy the trap along with him."

Everyone gave the idea a long hard thought. For the team they knew the idea was perfect on paper. But it was a long shot. Walking over Leo handed Derek the trap as he swapped it out with his Sabar trap. Now everyone but the brothers who now had the grenades strapped to their belts had the only traps they had left. Once everything was set the Ghostbusters lined up in front of the dragons.

Leo stepped forward tweaking with his Pke, "We'll leave the Disruptor shield up till we can return. It should by the city some protection from anything that could try and attack again."

Redstone stepped forward, returning a smile as he, the king, bowed in front of the entire city. "Thank you for your efforts to our city. May the Ancestors watch over you in your journey."

The 8 all bow as they turn back to the dragons. The three Guardians all lowered their wings as the humans carefully walked up onto their armoured backs. Using the serveral spikes as a way to stay on. Derek, Rachel and Leo all got on Terrador, Danny, Mike and Jack on Cyril with Roger and Ben on Volteer.

"Godspeed to you all Ghostbusters."

At that the dragons all spread their wings out before running towards the battlefield. Jumping up and flapping as they quickly climbed in the air. Everyone held tightly on the Guardians backs as they soon disappeared from the eyes below.

* * *

"I must say that was rather amusing to watch." Ignitus looked back to his friend. "Just think. From what they experienced the year before, this fairly easy for them don't you say?"

Chronicler didn't answer. He was too busy sitting at a pedestal with the book Ignitus brought him. He tried to break the seal that the black slime was forming with several mixtures of potions and spells but with no effect. He was quickly becoming frustrated with the book.

Rubbing a claw over his face he sighed. "This is becoming a very large thorn in my side. Perhaps…"

Ignitus raised a brow at his sudden change in tone. "Perhaps what?"

"Perhaps… we could destroy it." The fire dragon looked to his friend with utter shock. Never had he thought of the Keep of History to just destroy a book that holds so much.

"Have you gone **MAD**!?" Ignitus snatched the book off the stand. Instantly regretting it as the slime burned at his hands like acid on flesh. Yelping as the book slammed on the ground. Trying to blow out his burn (funny because he is the fore guardian) he looks down to see it letting out a steadily growing tower of smoke.

Looking at the smoking book a idea popped into the Chronicler's mind. "Maybe some human science could help do the trick."

Closing his eyes he held out his right hand. Mumbling words too quiet for even Ignitus to hear a yellow energy ball formed on his hand. The sphere flashed red to green several times before shrinking in shape as it became green and gray. In a fiery pop a full size slime blower dropped into the Chronicler's talon. Picking up the sprayer with just a pinch, he carefully pulls the release valve back while aiming at the book. The green surly splatters on the floor and costs the book until it was completely covered. The blower vanished from his hand as they waited and watched.

At first nothing happened. But in just seconds the bubbling indicator that the slime was being neutralized let the old gray dragon breath a sigh of relief and let go of his pent up frustration. Clearing away the sticky residue he floats the book back on the stand.

"Now." Ignitus walked closer to see him turn over the cover. "Let's have a look shall we?"

* * *

4 more and counting.

Unlike the standard tripods, The Ecto-7's Disruptors are significantly stronger relying on the Portable Containment Unit for direct power. The range of the barrier can vary depending on the amount of built up charge. Because the charge didn't have much time it only covered a radius of under 2 miles. A larger unit in New York City was used during Infestation that was built on the firehouse roof that cover a near 300 mile radius that ran on the main unit.


	22. Tunnel Vision

Chapter 22: Tunnel Vision

Arc 1: The Call

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While I know people read this story, please read it other than skipping to the latest chapter. I know I do that sometimes but it's nice to know of someone actually cares.

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Soaring high above the clouds the group was making fast work covering the distance to the mountains from which they hope to end this very soon. Night was quickly taking over the land again as now two full moons, on a pearl white and the other with a pinkish hue filled the sky along with the many different stars. The Ghostbusters held on tightly to the dragons as they tried to avoid the cold wind surging by. Derek, who was leaned up against Terrador's neck with his meter and goggles, looked down at the land for any signs of activity.

Meanwhile, Spyro and Cynder were struggling to keep up. Being how the guardians were bigger and faster they did try to slow down for the two but not enough to risk falling. Giving one lady push Cynder calls it. Rolling to the left so that she carefully landed on the giants back right behind Derek. Spyro follows the same landing right behind her. All five could feel Terrador shift from the sudden added weight.

Looking over his shoulder the shadow dragon watched the Pke rise and fall. "So what do we do when we get to the mountains."

"First we need to find the source of the black slime and take it out. If this is Malefor were talking about than we need to cut his power quickly."

"That's a good plan!" Spyro shouts.

"After that we need to find the dragon himself and deal with him. If he's too charged up than we might be putting in a little more over time in on this one."

"And what about the creatures? If that giant army was from here there could be endless more."

"All out elimination. We can't risk using the traps or letting any trace of slime to exist." Just then his meter buzzes as the green screen switches over to red. Through the goggles Derek was watching the large trail that lead straight to CrystalLine have a massive residue stain the land.

"Down there!" He shouts so everyone could hear. Looking down to see a black pit in the rocky terrain the three begin a gradual decline to the land. Holding on tightly until the sudden jolt of claws hitting the ground reassured them.

"We're here." The guardians dip their wings down as the Ghostbusters carefully slides down to the ground. With just the moons for light, the group lined up in front of the massive hole in the side of the mountain that could fit the main body of a Boeing jet. It was perfectly rounded to the ground with the pathway fanning out towards the opposite direction, towards CrystalLine. The tunnel itself seemed to bend downwards before vanishing from sight.

Derek slowly lifted his goggles up, "Any volunteers?"

At that moment everyone takes one large step back. Making it look like Derek stepped up. Hearing the sound of them, and turning to see them actually do it, Derek just hung his head.

" _Unbelievable_." He shakes his head as he entered the tunnel. " _Freakin Unbelievable_ …"

As the lights of his pack grew dimmer in the dark, the others quickly followed behind. As they walked in further they all switched on their spots lights to give them a better view inside

"I swear this is the reason why I got possessed by that demon on that day…"

"No it's not. That was because you thought you can handle a solo bust with a demon after coming out of a period of depression."

Derek's pace slowed slightly as he sent an annoyed glare to Leo who was minding himself by waving his Pke around.

"You… were possessed?" Cyril asked surprised.

"By a demon?" Volteer added.

"It's... complicated." His voice changed.

Everyone knew that kind of time was used when the subject was to be dropped. Cynder however couldn't help be look towards the human. Memories from years ago started to swirl around her mind. Then wondering what Derek could've possibly gone through. True there were dark creatures of the spirit realm, but with what they do and see, it's hard for her to think about having something like that walking around one's body.

"I still can't believe all this…" Spyro mutters to himself. Being the closest to his left Derek heard him clearly.

"About what."

"All… this!" A gestures to nothing in particular. "All this slime, Malefor coming back and now we're journey into some forsaken mountain to fit him again. And I don't want to be frozen in crystal again."

He lets out a deep breath. Looking down at his talons as the brushed over the rocky floor.

"Just one day. One day that i, or any doesn't have to worry about the world ending…" his words were cut short when he felt a hand settle on top of him. In quick motion the gloved fingers were running over the spot between Spyro's horns. Strangely, he leans into it more. Like a cat that can't stop having the open spot on them scratched.

" _Oooh_ …~" he started to drift over closer to the human. Everyone couldn't help retain a smirk as they watch him groan in pleasure.

" _Psst…"_

Derek looks over to see Roger walking to his left. Leaning in so that he could whisper his idea to him. Once he was done, Derek smirked before nodding in a approval. The others easily catch wind that something was up once Roger brought his hands to his mouth.

" _Hey Spyro!"_

His voice almost sounding exactly like Sparx. It echoed off the walls till it the purple dragon's ears like a bullet. Spyro's eyes widened to their fullest as he practically jumped away.

"Sparx!?" he dashes to the right. Paying little attention before running face first into the wall.

It was at this moment, did everyone burst out laughing. Cynder, the brothers, and Roger all broke down in laughter. The guardians tried to keep a straight face while the remaining humans tried to stiffen a chuckle. Pulling his head from the wall, that now let a large hole where his horns hit, Spyro steps back a few feet before falling in his butt. Rubbing the sore spot on his head. Seeing him do this, Derek walks over and kneels down.

"Here buddy." He pulls out _another_ candy bar from his pocket. Ripping the wrapper off as he handed it to Spyro. "Have a Snickers."

"Why?"

"You're not you when you're hungry." Spyro shrugs as he ate the bar whole. Pausing for a moment as he let his fire breath melt the bar to a liquid before letting it run down. Groaning at the pure blissful taste.

"Better?"

"Better. You gotta tell us how to make these."

"We could but we don't have a base to- what the hell."

Everyone stopped once they saw the faint glow of moonlight coming from a hole in the tunnel wall. The closer they got the wider it became until they were at the very edge of stepping outside.

"Did we go all the way through?" Ben asked.

Leo switched his meters screens, "No. We're still heading East. This mountain vase is miles wide and plus we didn't change course."

 _ **Grrr…**._

Everyone jumps as they looked back down the dark tunnel. The loud groaning causes some specks of rock and dust to rain down.

"Uhh… guys." Everyone turns back to Mike. Realizing that the tunnel just got darker and the entrance was now replaced by another tunnel.

"The Hell?"

"That wasn't there before, right?"

Leo walked a few feet with his meter raised into the new direction. The centers bars switching from green to pink. "Indeed it wasn't. A physical disturbance of the third to the fourth worlds."

"As a result of a large concentration of residual energy." Volteer add. Getting a surprised nod.

Danny just shook his head at the fact of the technobabble. "English people. Some of us aren't experts in that stuff."

Derek answered. "Think of when Shandor Island popped up in the harbor back in 2017. There was no sign of _Any_ energy, not even a source from the slime to manifest such a thing. Now apply that to here. If the sub tunnels we found under Warfang was anything to go by, this is just like it."

"But under a mountain."

"Yes Danny, but under a mountain."

"But be careful." Leo said with caution in his voice. "I am picking up a faint signal of something up ahead of unknown origins."

Taking his words with much focus, the group began their way on down the tunnel. Breaking off with for Ghostbusters in the front and back surrounding the dragons. Cynder staying close to the wall using her shadow to feel for anything possibly in here with them. Spyro keeping a small fire lite in his maw for light and some warmth being underground. And Terrador focusing his element through the rocky earth.

For them he was technically leading them. Being in a mountain where you can't find anything easily but with a dragon whose powers is just fitted for that. He kept his eyes mostly closed to allow his mind to literally be part of the world around. Every so often he would suddenly stop to tell them they were getting close to a break.

After stopping now for the seventh time, his eyes opened fully. "We're close."

But to them, close was a understatement. Going down a steady grading around a bend they came up to a massive chamber that was large enough to possibly fit the main building of the firehouse.

* _Whistles_ * "That's a big hole." Roger says looking around.

"We're in the middle of an extinct volcano." Jack says.

Looking up to the top of the shaft, Mike stares off into the darkness that their light could barely break. Clipping his gun he pulls off his Shock Gun firing a plasma bomb. The purple energy ball flying straight up.

"It just keeps going." He says as they watched it continue.

Ben steps beside him while watching."Maybe that's our ticket out of here?"

But then the bomb explodes. Some distance up as a bit of rubble rained past them.

"...or not."

"The magma must of slitificed. Effectively blocking the exit." Leo stated. Plopping his goggles down into the spectral vision mode. (Night Vision. The goggles have several different modes too.)

"...Oh God." Derek muttered with frustration lanced in his voice. Not believe what he was seeing. The others followed his to the bottom of the chamber. Everyone could see a faint orange glow coming from the bottom where a large structure was. It looked like a large pipe caved in with on part blocked off and the other leading into another system.

Stepping close to the edge Derek aims his blower near the rock. Launching a slime tether anchor with a gooey splat. Carefully stepping over he hooks the rear handle to his bent before carefully letting out on the trigger. Making the tether grow longer as he descended. The others follow his lead as they all started down the cliff. Watching them go over, Spyro and Cynder both gently glided down. The guardians on the other hand,

 _ **Crash**_

The whole chamber shakes as the three dragons slam into the ground below. The jolt causes the Ghostbusters to quickly try to hold onto their throwers as best as possible. Keeping their heads down as rocks of various sizes rained down from the ceiling.

On the ground the the dragons quickly moved to the new tunnel to avoid being struck. But at once glance Cynder could see a rock the size of a refrigerator falling.

"GUYS, LOOK OUT!"

Everyone immediately looks up to see the rock land on the edge where their anchors were placed. The impact shatters it into tiny shards as they ran down on the eight. The impact point begins to rapidly crack apart as the edge began to pull out from their combined weight.

"Cut them!" Derek yells as they all broke off the tethers. Sending all eight to crash down onti the hard ground. Reeling from the sudden shot of pain they quickly scramble to their feet as they raced over to join the others taking cover in the tunnel. The crumbling cave couldn't take much more of the constant loss of support and the walls finally buckled under the years of weight the mountain put on them. The ceiling collapsed to the ground dragging the edge where everyone was with it. Jagged rock smashes in front of the tunnel as the group staggers back some. Seeing nights of the roof crack away as the entrance was quickly covered up.

A thick cloud of dust followed moments later blocking their view of the tunnel. The team's lights just giving off enough light to see the extent of the damage while everyone tried to breath without taking in rock particles. Once it had settled enough, everyone looked at the block that now trapped them. The Guardians, even as big as they are, shrunk back some knowing it was their accidental doing. Derek walks up placing his hand on one of the large boulders, "Well… we are definitely not going back that way any time soon."

Turning back he looks to the group. Making sure everyone was alright before walking past then to the other end of the tunnel.

"Come on. We need to keep moving."

Agreeing on the matter everyone started on down the new tunnel. The spotlights on the packs flooding the area perfectly to see everything anyone could see. The clicking of boots and claws was the only sound echoing off the walls.

"I say," Volteer took a glance around, "Where are we?" He asked with curiosity in his eyes.

"In the tunnel network from under Warfang." Spyro answered not too amused by being back. "It's where me and Derek chased that creature down here and got chased out by a tidal wave of slime."

"Oh…" the curiosity diminished.

"I can't believe it…" Leo said stepping forward some. Waving his meter over every part of the tunnel. "Can you even begin to think how much spiritual energy is needed to cause this kind of manifestation and sustain it?" looking back he was met with the looks of little care.

"Which means that whatever's drawing energy is using a large amount to… oh no." Derek stops in front of a large hole in the wall.

"Spyro," the dragon stels around to see. Realizing what it was.

"What is it?" Rachel asked stepping closer.

"This is where we got reunited before finding…"

"The reservoir?" he nods.

"Keep your eyes peeled. And watch out for any slime." He flicks his thrower's dial. Switching the pack into slime blower as the others followed. The Ghostbusters started to form a circle around the two dragons with the Guardians cover the right, back and left sides. It didn't take long to find where they had to go. Taking a sharp right turn before coming up into a new chamber with a large steel grate in the center. The wall circling around before capping off the roof in a five point arch that had a hole blown through.

But what they saw now was something completely different compared to what Spyro and Derek saw. Everything looked like a tornado had cut straight through the tunnels with the area if where the river of black slime would be was now a chopped up trench that made the path twice as wide and slanted down like a storm drain. Iron gates that blocked off areas were gone or knocked over into pieces with old equipment destroyed past recognition.

"Well… this is reassuring." Rachel muttered. Walking over to one of the old computer consoles that even for 1920s time was advance. The console itself had a massive cut from the top down going the way back to the wall.

"How come it's always this goddamn place?!" Ben yelled in frustration as he kick the destroyed machine.

"Because in the story Shandor built this place directly on top of a interdimensional portal that lead to the ghost world. After Shandor died, the Originals defeating the Slor and Us blowing up the place it practically became part of the Ghost World indefinitely. Just think for what Malefor is planning requires a huge amount of energy and using black slime with his kind of power fits perfectly. For this place to manifest in a completely different world in two separate places completely different shows just how much he's using up to bring in more."

All of the Ghostbusters stopped where they were. Slowly shifting their gaze to Jack who just shrugged. It wasn't uncommon for him to just blurt out some based on the fictional history, even if they did live through _some_ of it. He wasn't usually one about the paranormal and more like the technology.

"...Correct." Leo said walking past without looking away from his meter.

"So that leads to the next question. What happened to all of the slime? Where did it-" Derek froze before taking another step forward.

"Stop." Everyone does as told. Waiting for way he said from them.

"Question. Wasn't there a wall there before." He points his thrower down the direction he was facing. Down several breaks on the chamber following the trench the bright lights that gave the place a white glow suddenly stop at a large shadow. Like the lights had been broken. What didn't make sense was that even without overhead lights the others should give off some to see. But it was like light was just cut off from there.

"Answer… No. RUN!" Derek shouts as they dashed down the tunnel to their right. Derek stops just before the arch way as he saw the wall move closer. The overhead lights flickering away before exploding into a shower of sparks that was absorbed by the darkness. Each burst showed the faint forms of four eyes; all black with the outside edge lined with red. A large mouth, like so many monsters before it was a large opening leading into a black abyss with teeth out stretching it.

Derek had seen this kind of creature before. A Shadow Beast. Similar to slime abominations, Shadow Beasts were more like the Blob taking up space to obtain its side. Any living or spiritual energy it consumes adds to its size. They were lucky to avoid them from crossing over into New York from Manhelltan during Infestation.

The human didn't move from his spot. Hid gun now hanging in his right hand at his side. Down the tunnel the group was quickly rounding a corner when Cynder glanced back to see Derek still standing there.

"Derek!" Her wings sprouted as she zoomed back to him. Just as she got to him she could see that the darkness wasn't only closer to the intersection, but the tunnel they had come from was slowly being overtaken by the same shadow.

"Derek." She shock his arm. Looking back to see another set of lights to explode. Just two more sets and it would be right in front of them. Gripping just above his right hand she tried to pull him with her.

"Derek, come on!" she pulls as hard as she could. Almost causing him to fall before he snaps out of his trance. The two quickly kick it into gear as they ran parallel each other.

Cynder having to jump to Derek's side when her platform ended in a collapsed rock pile, Derek quickly spun around firing proton stream at the wall of darkness. When the beam hit his eyes widened at how close it was and that at this rate would surely catch them. Firing a Boson before venting, Derek quickly wrapped his left arm around Cynder's torso lifting her up. Earning a yelp from her he flips her around so that he was now carrying her bridal style. Giving his gun to her he quickness his speed thanking the abilities the pack can give them.

Holding onto the thrower and Derek like she was Cynder tried but failed to hid a deep blush that was almost covering her entire face. Making her black turn into a shade of pink. That for her Derek didn't see nor pay attention to. His focus was directed on catching up with the others. Twisting her neck to the right to look past the pack's tanks and cannon, she saw that they were getting away from the shadow but it was still too close to either of their liking. Taking a glance to the gun in her lap and back to the creature, a idea hatched on her mind. Taking the gun in her talons, while minding that the hose wasn't _that_ long to reach, she reached the gun over his shoulder before finding the trigger to fire the stream. Derek nearly jumped when he felt the heat of the laser just inches away from his head but didn't care as Cynder managed to actually keep the stream on the creature.

One talon slipping under the handle as a Boson fired. In swift motion the dragoness fired as much of the gun as possible before the blaring vent alarm cut off her attack. Hoping for the cores to vent faster as the monster now managed to gain ground.

"Derek, Cynder!" Leo's voice grabbed their attention from a corner. The corridor changed from its tile work to a rocky tunnel with jagged rock all following towards them. At the point where the two tunnels met was Leo waving for them to hurry.

In one final burst of speed Derek sped forward. Quickly closing the gap as he past Leo. The trio quickly cover the distance back before reaching a large chamber that connected the tunnel. Quickly dropping Cynder back to the ground Derek switches to Electron. Sending a blast of lightning at the roof of the tunnel. Emptying the clip as rock several feet back collapsed to the ground. Cutting the beams, he takes a few steps back as the dust plume.

Leo came up beside him placing a hand on Derek's shoulder, "You alright? What happened back there?"

"I… don't know. I just locked up for a second…" he said clipping his gun and running his hands over his face. Sighing at what really did happen back there.

"Derek," Rachel called, "You might want to see this."

"What is it Rac- _Holy sweet Mary mother of Joseph…"_

He couldn't believe what he saw around them. Their eyes darting all over the place as they couldn't help but internally giggle with joy. All over the walls. From the edge of the floor all the way to the top of the chamber, was shards of pure diamond dotting the room. The team's lights making each one glow like it was pulsing with light at every movement. Taking a step to the center of the room, Derek's eyes couldn't believe it.

"Rachel…" Derek tried to be as collected as possible. "What… what was our bank account like back home?"

The medic paused for moment to run the numbers through her head. "15 biggies. But this… we might as well buy our own bank!" she says trying to yank out a baseball sized stone out of the wall.

Walking over to the opposite side of the chamber, right across from the collapsed tunnel, Derek walked right up to the rock wall where a pocket of at least 16 different sized diamonds jetted out. Grabbing onto a piece that stretched at least four inches out he tries to wiggle it loose. Struggling for a moment until a smaller pieces broke off. Taking the piece in his hand he had the gem up to his light. Surprised at how clean and smooth a raw gem like this was so perfect.

"Derek." Cynder's voice, that felt like it was right next to him, made the human do a tiny jump in surprise. Pinching the diamond too much at an angle causing it to slip from his fingers.

" _Whoops_ …" he watches as the small, golf ball sized diamond clicked of the wall and landed onto the ground.

 _ **Crack...**_

Derek frozen on the spot. The sound of the cracking began to grow louder and louder. Like something was about to give away to something big. Looking around everyone slowly looked towards him. Listing closely as the sound vibrated through the walls. When Derek took a step back away from the wall, noise stopped. Slowly looking down to his boot, Derek saw that he was standing on a large crack nearly as wide as his gun that was part of several running all underneath them.

His eyes widened, "Guys." he practically whispered.

Everyone turns around to see him looking down to his feet. Following his gaze to the floor. Their breaths are caught in their throats as they saw that the entire ground was covered in cracks. Mostly concentrated where everyone stood.

"Nobody move. No sudden movements."

"What is it?" Cynder asked twisting her head around.

Leo answered, "Volcanic glass. Forms when lava quickly cools with very little crystallization." Putting his flashlight he lights up the massive tube above them. "And right now we're standing in a volcanic vent with floor of it."

"Is that bad?" Rachel asked.

"Very," Terrador says while using as much of his worry to the side. "Very brittle and is easily collapsible. The tiniest of fractures will cause it to destroy itself."

 _ **Crack**_ _._

Everyone tenses up at the sudden sound. Slowly looking back to the block, they could see the rocks practically pulse as bits of rubble began falling from the top. In one push a rock chips off flying through the air. They watched as it hits the ground. Bouncing once, twice, and three times before stopping right in the center. Everyone flinched as they prayed it would hold.

After a moment, nothing really happened.

"...hmm. It's probably thicker than I-"

 _ **CRACK**_

The floor shatters like dust. Everyone did gave enough time to react before they plunged down into the dark hole below them.

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Three more left of arc one. I'll be done soon before Halloween.

I did borrow the volcano scene from the movie Atlantis The Lost Empire.


	23. Okay New Plan, Split Up

Chapter 23: Okay New Plan, Split Up

Arc 1: The Call

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 **Note: Heavily based on the game Outlast. Check below for more.**

 **Reviewer: Yes, I know that there are some considerable issues. This story is 140+ thousand word proof that it's not really my best strength in writing but I don't have the know how. I have been periodical searching for someone to help go through and practically rewrite a large chunk of this but so far it's been coming up empty.**

 **I do hope to find one once arc 1 is finished, then I can go back and fix what I can before starting arc 2.**

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"AHHHH-* _OMF_!*" Derek landed hard against the stone ground. Feeling the full force of the unbelievable drop come all rushing back to his head as he tried to sit up.

" _Derek_!" A female voice yelled as Rachel fell next to him back first. Flinching at the sound of her groaning by the position her sitting on top of the equipment felt like.

" _Incoming!"_ Two more voices yelled out fast approaching.

"Nope!"

He jumps to his feet. Quickly pulling Rachel away from the hole as the next body fell through. This time as the purple and orange body of Spyro. He lands hard on his belly, having a loud _smack_ that made him hiss in pain. Struggling to his feet he's brought back down again by Cynder landing across him.

" _Ohh_ … sorry, Spyro." She says rolling to her right. Going over his wings and tail that made him hiss more. Rachel came over carefully turning Spyro on his side as she shined her flashlight on him. Looking over for possiblly injuries from the double hit

"Good news is, I don't think you broke anything. Bad news, I don't know much about dragons but your stomach will sting for a while."

"Thanks Rachel… so where are we?" he mumbled as he rubbed his sore spot.

"My guess, couple hundreds if not thousands of feet below the mountain." Derek plainly answered. Grabbing his radio he turns the frequency up as high as possible.

"Leo, Mike, Jack, Roger, Ben, Danny, do you guys copy? Over."

Waiting for a moment, all they got was just a several waves of static that, to their ears dismay, was louder than what they had hopped for as Derek frantically turned the volume down.

"Great…" Cynder said with frustration rising. "Now what?"

The two Ghostbusters turned to each other. Thinking their next plan.

Derek replied, "We keep moving forward." He says pulling his gun. " In time we should run into the others if they do the same. And hopefully we can find a way out of here."

Nodding in agreement the four start making their way down the dark tunnel. With Derek and Rachel at the center with Spyro on Rachel's left and Cynder on Derek's right. Spyro keeping a small fireball on his mouth that proved some light along with the equipment

"I just hope we get back to them fast." Cynder muttered. The two humans understood the level of worry in her voice and quickly put a little more peep in their step.

 _Meanwhile, With Everyone else..._

"DEREK! SPYRO! RACHEL, CYNDER!"

"WILL **_YOU_** STOP YELLING!?" Ben shrunk back by Mike's voice echoing off the cave walls. Everyone whispered a thanks to the cop after the younger brother started shouting out for the others.

To say that the sudden drop was expected would be a understatement. They all remember falling down what could be described as a ancient slide that sharply stopped at a straight drop. Luckily for the Ghostbusters it was the dragons that came down first in the order of Terrador, Volteer and Cyril followed by six humans all landing on the dragons stomachs or slide down their sides. But because of the sudden fall almost everyone was put into a state of revival if Mike didn't land in a position to break his fall.

By that all he did was fire a slime mine at his feet and landing in a pose like Iron Man in his first movie. Once everyone was up and checked for injuries, they began taking in their situation.

"We've said this, what, about a dozen times now?" Roger groaned, "but this is _Exactly_ like Shandor Island all over again."

"Just worse with it being a unholy dragon of darkness." Jack remarked.

Thinking over the situation, Mike turns to Leo, "So what's the plan now?"

Everyone looked to the scientist for a answer. Whenever Derek would be MIA from the team, Leo would act as leader being the second most skilled member out of everyone in the company. If he was missing then it would fall to Mike given his track record from the police force. Then Rachel and so forth. But this was something both familiar and new at the same time for everyone.

"Rule 14. If split apart from each other, keep moving forward until contact at a cross point. And I highly doubt we're going back up there." He points to the large hole that dropped them all in there.

"If my math is right," Jack says holding up pke meter. The two pink bands that made up the rotating wings fully extended as it spun greatly in his hand. "We have at least 35 minutes before that monster up there breaks out of that block and goes after us. And, and this is just a theory/ possibility at the moment, in the next two hours or less of running into more slime, Malefor and then the others." Looking up from the screen he saw the mix of worry and disbelief plastered on their faces.

"How… can you be so sure?" Volteer asked trying to think of how the human came up with the conclusion so fast.

Leo answered that, "Knowing Jack, numbers is like a second language to him."

"As what Derek was say, 'Don't question my logic.'" Jack chuckled.

"Then let's make quick haste while we can." Cyril said rushing past Leo. The others following his lead as they head down the tunnel.

"Problem, Derek has the _only_ trap." Everyone stopped and looked back to Leo. "Without it we won't be able to do anything if we run into Malefor or worse."

"And what could be worse than Malefor?" Volteer asked.

"Think of a slime monster the size of the temple. And that's just putting it lightly on that kind of scale." Leo then walked past the stunned dragons to the head of the group.

The image of such creature came and went in the three minds as they turned back to the Ghostbusters. All of whom was slowly disappearing into the darkness as they moved on. Seeing that without their lights, the part where the guardians stood became more and more darker. They quickly scurried back to catch up; The sounds of their armor clanking together as they went down the tunnel.

 _With the others..._

Fatigue, hunger, and lack of rest was quickly slowing progress of the four down by the step. Unlike the others the four of them didn't have much to carry with.

Derek, being the man to always be prepared, did remember to bring something to eat. But the end result was 4 smashed nutrient bars, a small bag of trail mix, and their last Snickers. The dragons great fully took the mix and split the Snickers. Having Cynder nearly try to take the whole thing but Spyro quickly broke a piece before she consumed it all. Derek and Rachel tried to make do with the nutrient bars taking small bits at a time.

After going down another slope almost sliding down they came into a much larger tunnel that lead downward at an angle. As they continued on, Derek couldn't help but look at the two beings before them. It was strange when Derek thought about everything since Day One; from what he found about the Great War to now, there was something off about the dragons. This was backed up by how the citizens acted in Warfang compared to Crystalline. When they met Spyro and co, they were weary but okay with the team right from the get go. What Leo and Derek read about, and even seen first hand, their 'kind' was one that apparently _everyone_ disliked to the point to just kill them on sight. With what happened in both cities right after they came in made the team think that it was just over all shock and that they wanted to not cause trouble. They did like it, less distractions for their job, but it felt like something was behind it.

His attention turned back to the two dragons that decided to take the lead staying a good distance from them. He could've sworn he saw Spyro glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

"You two okay? You seem a bit nervous." He asked. Neither said anything at first but the humans could tell something was up.

"It's just that…" Spyro starts but doesn't know where to go.

"You're worried about the others and if this really Malefor."

"...yeah."

Derek slightly narrowed his eyes. The way they were acting was just twitching for a red flag to be raised. He turned to Rachel, who just shrugged. Looking back to the path he made a mental note to look into what was up. And when the Protonix Ghostbusters needed info, they got it one way or another.

"STOP!" Rachel yelled out making everyone jump.

"What, what is it?!" Derek said looking around for what she yelled about. When he looked back to her, he was surprised to see her practically shaking where she stood. So much so to accidentally drop her thrower as it clanked against the ground. Everyone watched as her right hand slowly lifted up her finger; pointing forward into the shadows.

"S-s-some...things here…" she stuttered as if there was no air.

Everyone looked in the direction she pointed, only to see nothing but the two sides of the darkness and the spot light. Slowly lowering his goggles, his vision was filled with the green display screen inside as the different charts moved to the sides. In the three rings that indicated distance of a target, the center green ring was right focused on the center of the tunnel where Derek could see something standing out I'd the shadows.

His eyes nearly broke through the lens as he muttered one word.

"Walrider." He whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. Rachel nearly collapsed at the very name. But that's not what really spooked them.

"Guys… we can see it too…"

Glancing at Cynder for a moment while trying not to take his gaze off the entity, he saw that her gaze was just like one would expect to see something in front of it. Slowly lifting his goggles back up his eyes readjusted to soon see the outline of the black mass that their spot lights couldn't cut past.

Just then the sound a mumbling caught everyone's attention. Rachel was slowly backing away from them as she started whimpering and almost break into tears. A screech followed by what could be the sound of gas popping made them look back as a black cloud fly at them.

Derek quickly swaps out his packs modes to full proton. "FIRE!"

Both he and Spyro let out dual streams of highly charged particles and a wave of fire as the creature roared in pain. Neither stopped until the cloud whipped backwards down the tunnel. The two keep firing in its direction to make sure it was gone. Derek finishing the task as he sent a Boson Dart out; causinf the pack to automatically vent. For a moment the energy ball sailed through the air until it dissapeared intk the darkness. A loud bang indecating impact on something.

"Rachel…" her legs buckled from underneath her. Derek quickly caught her as he held her close in a tight embrace. "Come here, Rachel, it's okay, it's gone."

Carefully clipping his gun he guides her over to the curved wall of the cave. Gently twisting around so that he sat leaned against it with Rachel holding tightly to his left side. The woman couldn't hold back any longer, as she broke into tears. Holding onto to Derek's suit with her arms tightly wrapped around his torso.

" _Shhh_ … it's alright…" he he gently strokes her hair. "I'm not gonna let that thing get you again…" she tightened her grip. Any more and she would risk suffocating him.

For Spyro and Cynder, the scene before them was something they didn't see coming. From what they've shown, the Protonix Ghostbusters seemed almost unstoppable and fearless in the face of most. But to see Rachel have a complete breakdown in front of them from the sight of the shadow figure made them both wonder what could it really take to break one of them. Then what Derek said registered. It had happened before.

"What do you mean again? What was that thing?" Spyro asked stepping over to Derek's right. Worried for the female Ghostbuster was evident on his face as he looked to Derek.

"During the whole year reset in 2017 because of Shandor, in August we got a call from a mental research institute that were conducting ways of trying to help the insane become normal again. It was at first me, Rachel and Leo who all went there for reports of an entity terrorizing the patients and workers. When we got there it looked more like a prison and asylum than a hospital.

We meet up with the head doctor who called saying that several deaths of both patients and doctors were connected to the creature. But when ever we walked past someone, mostly a patient, we could literally see the fear flooding from their eyes. They kept on yelling out the name 'Walrider'."

Rachel instinctively held Derek closer. The very mention of that word caused her to shake more. Derek calmly placed a hand on hers as she clamped hers on it.

"Anyways, when night fell, since that's when most people experience it, the three of us began searching the building. Every time though when we past through a hallway where people were being kept they would yell out banging on the doors about the Walrider and telling us that we had sealed our dooms. We feared that the entity might be more powerful than originally thought; this was confirmed when a _whole_ hallway was absolutely destroyed. Blood was smeared everywhere with drawings of a black figure was on the walls. Doors to cells were ripped off as of they were made of tin foil. Leo thought it would be best to contact the others and ran back to the Ecto leaving the two of us in the building. When the top floors provided little save from that indecent we worked our way down into the lower basement levels.

That's when we really started to see the full extent of the damage. It wasn't a hospital, it was a human experimentation lab. The conditions were just utter shocking to find people in the state they were in. The whole structure looked ready to come down, large chunks of the floor and walls missing. And blood, dear God there was so much blood, entire rooms were painted completely red from it. And that's when it came out.

Class 6 Shadow Ripper. Mostly unknown because nothing like it was ever heard of before so information was very little. From some accounts it was much like a possessor; others, a blind monster out for blood. When we are able to get a scan and track it, we tried to contact Leo, and that's when the floor gave way.

I… I don't really know what happened with her during our time separated. But when I tried to find a way out I was pushed deeper and deeper underground it and it just got worse. Inmates would attack, even try to kill us as we went through. But when I got to the sewers did we manage to meet up again. When I saw her again...

She was a train wreck. Bleeding several areas. Had a sprained hand and busted head. She said that she followed the entity but it went on a killing spree as it went after her. It wasn't until she hid in a big enough locker did she manage to lose it and come down the same way I did. We tried to find a way out; having to go through sewage worse than what we went through, Spyro. But as we got deeper, things started to get messier. We would end up running from inmates trying to kill us while… bodies would fall from grades in the upper levels. It was like the gates of hell broke loose and demons got to everyone. We managed to escape the sewers, but with the added injuries of her having a sprained and broken hand with a broken leg, and me with my left arm and leg almost torn off my body if it wasn't for the jumpsuit, we got out and into a opening that thankfully lead out into a clearing outside.

But… it just didn't stop. We got to the more desolate part of the facility where the experiments were held and had to run for our lives from the entity and psychotic people; having to barricade doors to slow them down but the Walrider just kept coming. We found out in a old note we found in an office that it couldn't follow you through a decontamination gate which bought us some time. We made it past the main warden to the research facility that would lead us to the original building we came through. But ended up taking us through a mess of corridors and testing chambers. Then we found… him.

A old, _really_ old man in an isolation chamber riding in a power chair telling us about the entity. How it came to be, why it did it what, even how it treated him like a father, and how to kill it. We did as said; turning off life support to Billy, the living host that it resided with that would end it. But once we were just about to finish the job, it attacked us. I tried to get a scan on it, try to find out it's weakness but it was hard to get a solid hit. That's why we don't really have much information about it.

Then… it tried to take Rachel as it's new host.. It dragged her up into the air as it started to merge into her body. I tricked it by offering myself, a more stronger body. What it didn't know was my own possession countered it with a very negative result. We nearly died on the home stretch of getting out until it came back after us again. But God was on our side when right before it got us, the doors leading to the main building burst open with Leo, Mike and Roger along with police officers swarmed in. We hit the ground as they all fired on the entity making it run to a vent. We nearly collapsed before we got outside where everyone was waiting. The teams, the other Ghostbusters, all swarmed the building placing Pke Disrupters, police and firemen taking out the injured or patients to be taken to a proper hospital. We got taken to Buffalo, another city in the state of New York, to be treated. My wounds ended up healing faster because, again, my possession. But Rachel had a much harder time. It took three months before she was giving a clean bill of health from the hospital; still not fully in control of her limbs but thankfully doing stuff. Unfortunately nightmares plagued her often making her stay in my room of the firehouse so that someone was with her at most times. We had to use a Mind Pan, a gadget that helps read brain wave activity like thought and memory, to try to help clear them up.

During this, back in Buffalo we had the entire area for five square miles on lock down trying to find the Walrider but came up empty. We had the surviving patients moved and the entire building destroyed to make sure no one can go through something like that again. Everyone within that radius was evacuated as insurance and we've kept a eye on it since."

The two dragons stared wide eyed at the two humans. If the figure that saw was part of the same story they paled to think what truly happened there. Almost on instinct, Spyro came over and slumped against the two Ghostbusters. Rachel wiggled some room to allow him to rest against Derek's chest. He puffed out his breath from the sudden weight as he saw his girl lean against the purple dragon's side. His orange wing carefully risings at it now huddled over her like a half scaly blanket.

Looking to his right, Derek could see Cynder with a smirk plastered on her muzzle. "Take a picture it will last longer." He rolled his eyes.

But instead of just making a comment, he saw her step closer to the open spot on his right. Seeing what she was about to do, he quickly shakes his head, but it's too late. She plops down right on his chest next to Rachel with her back arched so that it looked like she was staring up at him. He couldn't hold the massive blush from having all of them group hugging. It was okay with Rachel, being that she did this when he got possessed himself but with the added two made him thank God the others weren't here to see this.

" _Okay_ … this is getting... awkward." He said gently pushing them off. "But remember we still have a mission to do. So let's get moving."

Everyone nodded as they all got back up. Spyro stood first to let Rachel re gather her bearings. Nodding to the dragon for thanks of the comfort. But the two look to see Cynder still laying over Derek. She looked more calm than before and was like she decided to just stay against him as a living bed. Her eyes closed as she held her head almost resting in the crook of his neck while the risng and falling from each breath he took. Seeing their reaction told Derek that the moment was getting thick and gently prodded against the base of the dragonesses wings.

Cynder jolted for a moment by the sudden touch as her head lifted up so that she now faces him. Her emerald green eyes cracking for a moment till her vision was filled with the human's face. They shot open wide as she quickly rolls off and jumps to her feet. A pink hue forming in her cheeks as she backed away some. A chuckle could be heard as all eyes drifted towards Spyro who when Cynder shot a glare at immediately shutting him up.

Rachel rolls her eyes at the dragon's dismay as she help her comrade back to his feet. Wincing at the sound of his back cracking from sitting against the wall and pack. After giving a few twists, he looked to the others with a reassuring nod.

Starting back on the little journey, they did their best to pass the time. Derek thought this would be the best of time to try to contact the others. Having to try and fix a old radio as he walked. Noticing his trouble she had to ask.

"Why do you have that with you?"

Derek grunted as he tried to get a wire connected. "Seeing as to how much we're with them. "He points to the two dragons. "I figure it would be best if we had a form of communication to each other in case we get separated or just to talk. After all we should be using those headsets I bought. It clears up room on the belt."

"And messes with my hair. And can literally broadcast your breathing if your mic isn't turned off-"

Suddenly the entire ground shakes violently as pieces of jagged rock break from the roof of the cave. Once the mini earthquake passes everyone looks at each other for a possible answer. Derek clips his thrower and kneels to the ground, removing his goggles as he pressed his ear against the stone.

For a moment he tried to think of what was moving. At first he thought it was just the earth itself. The rock groaning from pressure or just the volcanic parts bubbling with activity. But the vibration started to become louder and louder. Growing more frequent like a drill.

His eyes shoot wide open as he jumped back to his feet. Tackling the others as he pushes them all forward. Just in time as the spot where they stood collapsed in a explosion of rock. They all watched as a long black and gray body snaked it's way through the rock digging into the side as it's body disappeared faster than it appeared.

"What… was that." Cynder asked not knowing what kind of creature they just saw.

Derek had to rub his eyes to make sure that he saw it correctly. "I have no idea. But something spooked it."

"It's got to be the others. They must of ran into it and sent it running." Rachel answered.

Pulling his radio up Derek opens the channel to Leo's. "Leo, do you read me? Leo." He waited but was met with static.

"Let's go!" Derek yelled breaking out into a sprint. His equipment jingling and clanking against the man as he was disappearing into the darkness with only his proton pack the only source of light coming off of him. Rachel followed close behind as the the dragons looked at each other before snapping their wings open after them.

It took a bit longer than they expected to catch up; wondering how the humans could move so fast with so much on their person. The were able to see Rachel's pack swishing back and forth as she was stuck at least a couple of feet behind Derek. Giving in a extra boost despite their lack of energy getting to them they get fairly close as Derek finally slows to a halt.

Reaching over to his Pke meter that was buzzing loudly, the bar graph split between red and orange. Leaning back for the others to see, he pointed to it before doing the quiet gesture. They nod as they tracked further down the cave; Derek holding his meter in his left hand while holding the massive thrower in his right.

The tunnel itself began to shrink in size as it became more squared and defined as they stayed close together. Approaching a corner, they huddle against the side as Derek looks around with his ecto-goggles looking for any possible trouble. But instead finds a mysterious glow coming from the end of the tunnel where it stopped. Doing a quick scan, showing a spike in Pke levels, he waves for the others to follow close behind with Spyro and Cynder in the middle as Rachel brought up the rear.

Slowly coming up to the apparent exit, both the Protonix's meters began to buzz rapidly. Making everyone to power up for any possible threat. But once they stepped out into a long stone bridge, their eyes and jaws nearly fell at the sight before them.

The cavern was much bigger than the volcano they repelled down in with the entire place giving off a purplish glow that made it easier to see some of the finer details. Several bridges spanning from each side darted all up and down the walls with some twisting in weird forms, ending in dead drops or going straight across. Dotting the swirling rock was strange purplish black like crystal that proved to be the source of the light.

"* _Whistles*_ Damn. Definitely Not like Shandor Island." Derek said flopping his goggles down to do a quick look over.

Spyro walked up beside him,"This place is definitely bigger than back at Malefor Mountain. That's for sure."

Pulling his goggles backup Derek flicks on his radio he was working on.

"Leo, come in. If you can hear me, we're in some kind of a chamber. That's dark crystals all over the walls and it looks like someone took a drill the size of Central Park here."

" _I've noticed._ " His voice sounded like it echoed off the walls around them.

"Leo? You sound close."

"Look up." His voice was so clear they nearly dropped. But when they looked up, their jaws nearly hit the ground at the sight of the others all there, upside down.

 _Earlier with the Others..._

" _Everyone get down_!" Mike whispered/yelled as they came up to a junction. Wiping out his pistol, he slowly approached the corner with his training as a cop taking over. The others all following behind huddled closely to the cave wall dimming their lights.

Doing so they tried to blend in as much as possible; failing to do so because of the giant dragons behind then when Jack's Pke meter began to faze in and out of green and red until it was locked on red for some time. Because there was no other tunnel they know they day a strong feeling that whatever was near was in there with them.

"How close are we to it?" Danny asked leaning over the technician's shoulder. His finger itching to unleash hell on whatever it was.

"It should be any moment. We're right on top of it."

"THERE!" Volteer shouted making everyone get into fighting positions.

True to his observation and Jack's readings, everyone could see a deep red glow that easily broke through the darkness. It's fast speed with the sound of scraping rock made the team go into battle mode when a body was just briefly seen.

"Blast it!" He fired. His stream making contact as the entity flinched back but kept moving. The others quickly joined in as they fired. Jack and Leo were the only ones not to as Leo prepared a proton grenade while Jack held his meter up scanning the strange entity.

The creature, from what the light of their packs and streams, was a mixture of gravel gray with black outlines that formed from a bulky rock like body down to a long tail appendage that was littered with spikes. It's head was the like cross between the shape of a scorpion but had a large mouth their several tentacles that made it look like it was eating a spider.

With the four streams pounding at its face, the worm like creature powered through the force as it came closer. Watching the proton streams actually struggle against the creature, Volteer stood back amazed at how it was resisting the proton packs' power. Then a memory of when the Ghostbusters first arrived at the city came into his mind for a split second.

He remembered watching Spyro fire his lightning element at Derek's pack that caused it to become supercharged and easily deal with the Screecher. Lowering his head so that it was leveled with the others, he beings to build up a concentrated blast that would connect to the four proton packs. Lightning began to swirl around his maw as he drew in a deep breath. Realizing the light show behind him and what Volteer was about to do, Jack quickly stepped in.

"No, wait!" Jack yells waving his arms. Volteer swallows the blast and looks down to him. "They don't use Protonix Packs. You do that and it'll cause them to meltdown and us, this mountain and maybe a chunk of the world to blow up."

Taking heed of his words the lightning dragon made a mental note of such importance. Meanwhile Cyril stepped past him breathing out a sheet of ice that darted past the Ghostbusters to the creature. Traveling up the walls as shards of ice stab at its sides. Puncturing in several places that seemed to make it angrier. It tried picking up speed but he quickly freezes the ground around its legs.

Not knowing what to do, Terrador looked down at Leo who at the same time stood up and looked at him. "Can you form a rock wall to block out a blast from this." He held up three proton grenades all tied together.

"Just give me the word." The earth dragon said smashing his front paws into the rock.

Quickly setting each grenade to go off a second after the other, Leo presses the button and flings it at the creature. "Fire in the hole!"

Everyone ducks down covering their heads. Terrador quickly surges through the earth bringing up a large rock face that connected from the ground and ceiling as they watched the bombs tumble away.

In seconds a massive explosion rocks the tunnel pelting the group with small stones. The rock wall dividing them from the blast slightly cracks as a ear screeching roar emitted from the other side. Followed by the sound of crushing rocks that caused a mini quake.

"It's tunneling away. Moving upward." Terrador said as he dropped the wall.

Everyone was uneasy at him dropping their barrier so early but the aftermath of the blast made it evident. A small, newly formed chamber was cleared out of the tunnel rock with a pile of fresh stone sitting in the center of the room.

Carefully entering they all glanced up to the massive hole at the top of the room with dust and small rock falling down. Mike and Leo both look up into the new pathway as they noticed it take a sharp bend to the right.

"Please tell me you got more with you." Mike looked to his friend who sadly shook his head.

"Those were my last ones. Derek's the only one with two more and from what Danny's pockets look like we have _maybe_ 4 more."

Everyone not Leo or Mike looked at the eldest brother's pants that were heavily disfigured. Each pocket clearly with the outline of a grenade stuffed inside.

"Hopefully the others felt that blast. It could give them a sense of where we are to them." Cyril states as he too glanced up.

"I'm more worried that thing will stir up more trouble." Terrador responded as he heads to the main tunnel. "Let's get get moving. I have a feeling that we'll met them again soon enough."

In his mind the dragon was praying that was true. From what all they knew, they could be surrounded right now and be lead into a trap.

Their journey continued for some time now as they zig zag around tight corners throughout the system. Each corner they took they stopped and peeked around if anything was there. On the many slopes they skid down; Cyril and Volteer utilized a ice combo where the ice guardian would spit a large stream of ice all the way to the bottom of the ramp then Volteer would electrify it making it look like frozen lightning.

After going down another, much more sharper slope, the group found themselves back in a large dome like chamber. That it wasn't until they noticed there wasn't any other tunnels they could see. Leo scans the walls and ceiling for any purple ora that would be a dead giveaway of ghost energy trying to trick their eyes. But comes up completely empty.

Terrador tries using his Earth element but when he focuses into the rock he's met with a blank response from his surroundings. His thoughts from earlier returning quickly.

"Just what I thought. This place has been pushes us into -" he didn't get to finish when a recognizable cracking sound fell upon them.

In a blink of an eye the entire floor spider webbed out underneath them as it didn't wait for them to respond.

" _Not again_!" Roger was the first to yell out as they all dropped through the ground.

Everyone, who could hold it in, yelled as they fell through to whatever awaited them. But instead of the first straight drop they landed into a curved tunnel that acted like a large slide. Despite the situation, the Ghostbusters couldn't help but chuckle and even laugh as they felt good old memories rushing into their minds.

The guardians however was a different story. Their massive bodies tumbled and swished side to side sometimes colliding with each other and narrowly crushing the humans. Their joy ride soon came to an end when they all skidded into another tunnel.

"Haha!", Ben yelled jumped to his feet. "That was fun! Can we do it again?!"

His question fell upon deaf ears to his teammates but was answered by the guardianss all looking at him. Holding back a scold look that was one step away from growling at the human. Getting the message Ben shrunk down a little.

"Or… not." He quickly turned back and ran to rejoin the others.

As the dragons untangled themselves and got back up, they all groaned at the fact that they literally fell for the same thing twice. After all they have been through so far, the guardians all vowed to take some much needed rest after they got back to Warfang.

Moving across the new chamber towards the Ghostbusters, Danny stood at the head of the group, his arms were stretched out pointing to the break in the tunnel.

"Look guys, found two ways." He gestured to the two different paths that branched out. One banked sharply left and disappeared into darkness while the other went back some and stopped.

The others all pondered on which way to go, not noticing that Jack walked past all of them with his face down at the meter watching through his goggles.

Then an idea popped into Rogers head, "Anyone got a quarter-"

"* _Static* ...L... eo…*static*."_

Everyone instantly became quiet as their ears perked up at the sound of their leader's voice just breaking past the signal issue. Quickly ripping his radio off Leo turned the volume up as high much as he could, trying to call out his friend.

"Derek, Derek do you guys copy? Over." he waited as static filled the air.

Hw tries again. "Derek do you copy, over."

Nothing but static answers back.

"We're getting closer. If we even got a static signal that means we are within range."

"Leo," Jack called.

"Yes Jack?" He looked at his comrade who was walking away with his eyes half focused on the meter and his site direction. Noting that the wings were spinning very fast as the screen flashed red.

"You got something?"

"I got something. Right here." He waves his meter over a large circular stone.

The stone itself was a dead giveaway that it wasn't suppose to be there. Almost like it was put there for the purpose of tricking them.

"Whatever is behind that wall there is a massive negative charge built up behind it."

Danny and Ben walked up, pushing Jack to the side as they aimed their throwers. Both taking one side of the disk, the unleash a full on burst of the Overload Pulse as the rock was cut away. Once Ben reached the top and Danny reached the bottom, Ben switches to his slime blower as his brother pelted the wall with his blast stream. The combined force proved to be too much as on one short blast the wall came tumbling to the ground onto a pile of stone.

The brothers turn to each other fist pumping at their handy work as they went over the collapsed wall. Jack pulls his goggles off lolking back at the ground for an explanation. Everyone just shrugs as they followed the Smiths through. The guardians having to almost squeeze through hole as they joined the others on a stone bridge that spanned a great chasm.

Everyone was truly shocked at the size of the clearing as they walked further out to see more. It wasn't the size of the Reservoir that Protonix knew about, but for something like this to be under a mountain was an amazing sight in of itself.

" _Leo, come in."_ Derek's voice came from the radio crystal clear this time. " _If you can hear me, we're in some kind of a large chamber. There's dark crystals all over the walls and it looks like someone took a drill the size of Central Park here."_

Leo didn't answer right away. All that he could do was smirk as he and the others saw Derek, Spyro, Rachel and Cynder all walking towards them on another bridge looking around the cave. Holding his finger to his lips while facing the group, he waits till they all were at the halfway point.

"I've noticed _._ " He said into his walkie. His voice sounded like it echoed off the walls around them.

" _Leo? You sound close_."

"Look up." He said as he saw them flinch. Their heads all snapping up to see them all standing there opposite to them.

"Why are you guys all upside down?" Spyro asked with a raised brow.

"No, we're not," Roger countered. "You guys are the one on top."

"People, if I may," Terrador shouted before the two could continue. "We are all sideways to the ground." He points a talon towards the wider end of the chamber.

"That is the ground level of this place. By how we turned up like… this is beyond me."

"Guess Gravity decided to take a day off today." Derek remarked.

"And that's where we wanna go." Jack said kneeling down at the edge of the bridge. "The energy levels I'm getting from down there are off the charts and with all these crystals around that energy is quickly rising."

"So let's get down there." Derek said quickly thinking of a plan how to get down. He really wanted to ask what happened on their end during this time but his eyes darted between the dragons and his team. Looking back and forth between the bridge and ground before an idea struck.

Taking out the wrappers from the food bars he crumbles them up in a ball. Tossing it in the air everyone watched as it strangely fell down and not back into his hand.

"There's a electric field in the stone. Super charged with Pke energy. Given that this is what formed those weird tunnel networks… if the dragons take off and completely leave the stone they should go back to normal."

Rachel asked, "And for us?"

"Us," Derek switch's to slime blower. Walking towards the furthest edge he fires a slime tether. "Same thing like before. But in order for this to work we'll have to literally jump off and then tether ourselves to the bridge. We can repel down to the one bridge down there." He points his gun to another stone walkway a little ways down.

"Can't you guys just go straight to the bottom?" Cynder asked.

Leo shook his head, "No, while the tethers can stretch for some distance going straight down in one good will cause it to warp and weaken. Better to be safe than a pancake."

"Alright, let's do this." Spyro says jumping up off the platform.

Once all his legs wasn't touching he dropped straight down to the floor. Spreading his wings out as he twisted himself to get in a position hover. Looking up he nods to the others to follow. The guardians hesitated for a moment while Cynder just came up to the edge and let herself free fall off. Easily gaining speed as she spread put her wings and glided just past Spyro. Seeing them succeed so easily, the three large dragons decided to follow Cynder's lead and fall of the side of the bridge. But instead of just stopping at the two, they glide down to the ground level, hopefully to get out of the messed up caves. Landing gracefully on the stone, the others swoop down to join.

"I hope that this is the end of all this maze running…" Cyril groaned earning a round of 'mhms' from everyone. Looking up from his spot all eyes locked onto the Protonix Ghostbusters watching them.

Getting that it's their cue, Derek flips to his slime blower. "Alright people, second verse, same as the first."

Walking further past the halfway point of both spans he positions himself the best he could so that he dropped straight down to the platform below. The others following in suite a they all got on the opposite side laying down on their stomachs. Reaching over with one arm over the edge to hold him in place. Bringing his feet up so that he was in more like a squatting pose, he brings his thrower up near the edge firing the first anchor for the tether. 7 more splats followed as everyone waited for his next move.

Letting the slime build out some to give it slack, Derek pushes off with his legs as he lets go of the edge. Making him smack against the stone. Slowly letting more out he goes he connects the end if the gun to his belt and soon is slowly moving down.

Down below the dragons watched carefully as the team went further and further, almost reaching the point where if they fall it's either death or they know how to land on their feet from a drop as tall as a 6 story building. True that they've done it before, let alone survived worse; free falling into a portal that lead them straight to Manhelltan and be shot back out across the harbor by the biggest nuclear explosion ever witnessed by anyone on planet Earth. Repelling down this edge was more or less a simple task.

But simple wasn't the best word to describe what came next.

Just as they broke past the halfway point, just one story from the platform, they could feel their slime tethers start to literally vibrate. Making Leo and Derek stop.

"Monsters?" The scientist asked.

Derek looked at the long thin tethers. They rippled like disturbed water as the shaking began to grow stronger, louder as the sound of rocks crunching and breaking filled their ears.

"Earthquake?!" Rachel shouted as she tried to avoid getting hit by rocks.

Suddenly a loud screech bellows out from the rock walls as one part containing a large mass of dark crystals explodes out sending more rock to rain down on the groups.

Out of the dust comes a large worm like creature darting over the walls crushing more and more creatures into its mouth.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Roger asked trying to speed up his descent.

The creature turns its attention straight at the suspended team as everyone gave the pilot a scolding look. The creature devours another large crystal as it's body then turned towards them. It's tail like end giving of a purple glow as its cheeks, or from what they can tell were, quickly bulged outward near triple it's size. It lurches forward sending a spray of black slime at the team.

"LOOK OUT!"

Derek tightly holds the trigger as he slid down further to avoid the blob. Everyone tries to swing out of the way but the slime makes direct contact with the lines. Three snaps echoed as everyone looked to see who was in trouble. Derek snaps his gaze up as he saw a indigo mass fly past his right.

"Rachel!" He stretched his arm out to feel hers wrap tightly around his wrist.

Hissing at the huge tug from his arm straining he jolt down more. He looked up to see his tether become a more brown color as it was within its breaking point. A yelp caught both their attention as they turned to see Danny struggling to hold Jack by his boot while he held Ben. His slime tether just barely holding together as it stretched out into a brown string. Making it effectively useless.

"Mike, Leo, Roger, get them out of here fast!"

"We're on it-" Mike couldn't finish his slime tether snapped.

Everyone gasped as he frantically tried to slow down; nearly smashing into the landing platform before heading towards the dragons. They all jumped at the sight of him falling, but Cynder was the first.

Spreading her wings out she leaps into the air quickly flapping her wings as she directed a current of wind into Mike's path. The sudden force made him realize his speed has drastically changed and he was more or less falling like a leaf. She eases the winds some more till Mike is carefully (dropped 5 feet off the ground face down) on the ground. Standing up as he tries to gain his balance and the mind rush going through his head, he raises a thumbs up to the dragoness.

Watching the display a idea came to Derek as he looked back to the three struggling men.

"Break 'em!" This team mates all looked at him horrified.

"CYNDER!" He yelled down to the dragon. "GET READY TO CATCH THEM!"

Seeing his plan the dragoness quickly summoned her Wind element as a cloud of dust formed into a little tornado started to reach up underneath. Ben's the first to go as he plummets down into the top of the vortex. Getting caught by the swirling winds as he glided to the ground beside Mike.

Danny drops Jack, making the technician scream as he took his turn, and switched his modes to proton stream. The tether quickly lost its green hue as it stretched like a rubber band before he yanked it. Leaving the original Protonix Ghostbusters suspended in the air. Looking back up to see the watched as the worm began to grow again as it prepared another torrent of deadly goo.

"Rachel," she looks directly into his eyes, "I'm going to swing you over to Leo. Grab onto my boot and hang on!"

Doing as told she carefully let's go one of her arms as she wrapped it tightly around his thigh. Letting his hand completely gives she slid down to his boot. Seeing her locked on tightly he uses his free hand to pull of his proton rifle flipping the activation switch and takes aim at the wall. Firing a stream that sends them swinging back some.

"Get Ready Leo!" He yelled as he fired in the opposite direction. Making him swing out in a bigger arch.

"On 3, Ready?" Rachel nodded.

Firing the gun to his left the push back starts to push them in the opposite direction towards Leo. Once they reach the maximum it could reach, Derek flings the rifle over his arm still holding on to his thrower and fires to the opposite wall. Sending them back the other way.

"1"

He does the same thing again. This time the arch is much bigger.

"2"

Swinging back he holds his finger down on the secondary fire. Blasting a Boson Dart that sends them flying back

"3!"

Once they were close enough, Derek twists his legs up like to kick and throws Rachel over to Leo. He quickly lowers himself to his tethers limited range and catches Rachel with his free arm.

Derek smirks and yells out, "You guys get out of here! I'll handle the creature."

"But Derek - AHH!"

It didn't take much to know Leo had broken off his tether. Derek watch as his best friend and girlfriend both fell down the chamber into the vortex at the bottom.

Now it was just Derek and the creature that were locked eye to eye. Aiming his rifle Derek does a quick revent and fires a Boson/Stream combination at the worm. Seeing the blast it quickly scurries over the rock face trying to avoid the stream.

"Hold still you overgrown slug!"

The worm soon finds itself on top of the same bridges the group was on before. Letting another roar as it started to build up another blast of slime. Derek quickly destroyed his slime tether with his rifle as he fell backwards to the ground. Firing a Boson Dart and stream of slime as the gap grew. The creature unleashed it's slime straight down at the human, but it's instantly destroyed by the jet of green slime that easily evaporates it. Before it could register it, the boson dart came flying out of the blob at it. Ducking over the bridge the blast misses it by a few meters, but takes a direct hit underneath the bridge it was standing on. The thin stone quickly cracks and shatters as the creature screeched out falling towards the ground. Colliding with other platforms as it fell.

Seeing them both fall, Cyril quickly brought up a ice dome to protect them from the falling rock and monster. But Derek was coming at them fast and would hit the ground with enough force to splatter him.

Jumping from the barrier before it closed, Cynder brought up her tornado has high as she could take it; flying up to catch him mid air. But when he was at the top of the vortex, he extends his thrower out, fires another slime tether and yanks it back. Sending him flying at the rock wall as he broke it off and fired another one much higher as he jumped up the wall. Cynder realizes his movements and quickly flies to the opposite side cutting off her tornado.

The monster twists its body around so that it's underside faced down; before crashing into the final bridge it ejects a massive blob of black slime where it lands with a loud splat. Looking up to see Derek fly up to the platform the Ghostbusters originally intended to land on, it bellows out a blood curtailing screech as it rushed up the wall.

Taking aim with his thrower. Derek actives his Ion Cannon as he did a quick vent of his pack to replenish the slime tank. Setting it to Meson Collider, he sets it on auto fire and fires a four way, Proton, Meson, Stasis and Slime combination at the approaching creature. The combined attack that went straight down pelted the monster with unbelievable amounts of power but to even Derek's surprise did little to slow it's progress. The creature gains a quick boost in speed and comes up around the side in front of Derek. Overtaken by the sudden close up Derek cuts off his attack and fires another slime tether to another part of the chamber wall. Nearly avoiding getting crushed as it destroyed the area he was standing on. Rocketing across he lands on a cliff just past the walk itself.

Doing another vent out and to catch his breath he looks back to see the creature running parallel to him. Taking aim he prepares to fire again but is stopped when the health graph on his thrower started to flash yellow. Soon a sharp pain raced up from his boots up through his body like a electric shock.

Pushing through the pain he slimes the area around his feet. The second the positive slime hit; the stone began to bubble away as a purple glow broke through. Realizing he was standing on a shard of dark crystals he jumps down to a lower edge.

"Alright, Don't touch the crystals. Just like black slime."

"So what's the plan?" Derek nearly jumped off the side from the sudden voice being so close to his right side. Nearly obliterating the black dragoness who hovered beside him. "Look out!"

He dives to the side narrowly having his head get chopped off. What he didn't think to do at that moment was realize where he was standing and nearly fell off the side. With both hands full he struggled to get a grip on the small surface as his legs kicked at he side to support him.

Seeing it's chance the creature dashes around the cave wall making a beeline straight for Derek. Glancing back once as he lost his grip on his left hand. Now just barely holding on to the rock with one hand, he lifts his rifle firing a session of four Boson Darts to try to slow it down. Using what leverage he had he tried to reach for his thrower but found that it was too far out of reach. Tugging on the connection cable he tries dragging it over, but another near miss if a massive spike causes even more of the platform to break off. Jolting the gun off the side as it hung down out of his reach.

 _ ***K-CH-ooooom***_

Derek had very little time to react when a blast of purple energy exploded out of its spider mouth. The energy showers rock down from just above the Ghostbuster shattering what was left of the edge. Derek is sent flying back down the center of the chamber frantically trying to grab his thrower.

Cynder, for the time was going around trying to destroy the crystals near the creature to prevent it from gaining more power, turned her head when see saw a familiar dark blue and black mass falling.

"Derek!" She quickly dives down after him. Folding her wings in to gain speed like a bird swooping in for the catch.

She easily passes him and unfolds her wings to have her just float in the air. But she's nearly knocked down when Derek lands right on her back. The weight of a 200+ pound human and proton pack causes Cynder to flap her wings extra fast to balance out the problem; all the while hearing a low groan come from the adult human.

"You okay?"

"...I think I just busted my diligent equipment…" he said holding the area below his belt. If one was close enough they could see a lone, manly tear fall down his cheek. After taking a second to realize where he was now, he failed at hiding a deep blush.

"...this is just so wrong."

"Hold on!"

Giving as much power to her wings as she could without overpowering herself as the duo rose in the air.

Clipping his rifle, Derek pulls up his gun and flips out all the modes popping the forward handle into the Electron mode. Taking tight hold with both hands as he fired a bolt of electricity at the worm. Cynder readjusts her flight so that she too faced the monster and blasted away with a concentrated jet of poison that formed a more solid beam similar to the Stasis Stream.

The monsters races in random directions trying it's best to avoid being hit. Derek doing a quick vent nearly every 40 seconds the lightning gun produced with Cynder stopping to catch her breath or change their position. Firing together the aim for alongside it as it ran straight up the sharp embankment. Heading towards on of the holes that weren't filled in. Just yards away from its goal, Derek and Cynder cut across its body behind its head and tail piece.

The combined attack is short lived but the roaring it made was a sign of it weakening. Smirking Derek switches back to proton to finish the job but is take back by two things.

One was the fact that every crystal in the room, rather it be already visible or just cracking the surface, began to radiate a dark black glow that dimmed the only source of light to a faded darkness.

And two was that his Pke meter was going crazy on his belt. He didn't have to check to know that something _big_ was coming.

" _Derek, Come in."_

"Yes, Leo?"

" _I think you just pissed it off."_

"Yeah that's a big 10-4."

 _*_ _ **SKRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW***_

Instantly Derek covered his ears from the force the creature emitted. Even the others on the ground couldn't believe what they were hearing.

But the pain wasn't comparable to what the monster was going through. It's body began to rapidly change shape as it lost its extra limbs and spider mouth. It head warped and grew in length was several new horns jet pit the back followed by a much longer neck. Four of the limbs crawled up its sides where they positioned themselves directly on its back; a loose material connecting them together to form two massive wings. It's 'tail' grew in length as it divided into three parts. The two smaller parts on each side glided over its body where they sat just near the front of the tail. They too split apart as two more limbs moved further up the body; expanding in size and mass as the form of four giant legs sprouted.

Derek was truly astonished at the sight of a slime monster draw so much energy to completely rebuild its body shape. Cynder however wasn't sharing the same thought. Her mind stopped and her heart skipped a beat at the sight of a almost complete form of a dragon.

Once it's change was done it snapped its head at the duo. It's yellow eyes like two miniature Suns staring at them with pure rage.

"Oh... this just keeps on getting better and better."

Back on the ground, everyone who stood watching were shocked at the sudden transformation.

The guardians still shocked beyond comprehension had given up trying to understand stand and decided to let their minds just try to do something.

The Ghostbusters all stood anxiously waiting for the moment to bring hell fire on the new target. Jack for the time was gathering unbelievable amounts of data from his Pke and Ecto-goggles, scanning and cross referencing every part of the worm turned dragon.

Spyro stood there mouth agape at the display he was watching. The memory of when they first met suddenly flashed into his mind of the first Screecher and then the Behemoth.

"We gotta do something." He said step up to the wall of ice.

"I strongly disagree." Leo said stepping beside him. His eyes following his friend/leader's movements.

"This wouldn't be the first time Derek's done something like this. And whenever we joined it would cause a problem that both sides would have to face."

"But this place is filled with Dark Crystals. Practically our world's version of black slime. And if it's anything to learn from spending weeks with you guys is that the more there is if this stuff, the more powerful it can become."

Leo's face drops. He didn't take that factor into account.

"... Oh Shit."

"What are we waiting for?!" Rachel ran around the back side of the ice dome. "We gotta help them!"

"How?" Roger asked. "Their moving to wildly. One wrong move and we can end up blasting them instead of the monster."

"And that's why I brought this."

Leo quickly unbuckled his proton pack sitting it straight up. Pulling out a rod next to his spotlight, he forces it back down causing the entire top left of his pack to jolt out. Unlike what most packs had inside; a bunch of circuits and cables with the frame that allowed it to take serious beating. But Leo's had a large open space behind the Ion Arm that held a variety of parts.

" _Always wanted to use this…"_ he smirked as he started quickly assembling the parts. Sliding together like Legos he sets the weapon down and pulls over his thrower. Taking a small wrench that came with the parts he disconnects undoes the bolt holding the power cable to the gun and connects it to the bottom of the handle.

"Leo, what are you- Is that a...?"

Roger was lost for words at the device Leo had over his left shoulder. It was easily bigger than his proton gun with a much wider tube body that held a sci-fi like design of a rocket launcher. His left eye was held closely to a small screen that sat on the side as four lasers ignited. Easily seen by everyone as they all focused on the dragon.

"Yep."

* _ **WAZOOOMMMMM**_ *

Meanwhile, The human and dragon that were currently flying about through the air trying to avoid getting shot down by the now apparent dragon like creature as it followed their every move with equally matched speed weren't making much headway.

Twisting his body around Derek flipped between his guns running both proton and slime as the dodged several of its own blasts. But at every chance he got of a perfect shot they would turn sharply or go straight up causing him to miss most if his shots.

"Come on Cynder! I need a good shot!"

"Hey! You try flying with a massive load while avoiding getting killed!"

"Don't have to!" He snares as he did a flip vent (twirl the rifle in his hands pulling the vent switch) and firing another stream. Firing another Boson, he flips over to his thrower getting it to full on Meson Collider.

Taking as steady aim as he could, waited for it to straight at them with its mouth wide open so that he could paint it as a target for the Overload Pulse to never miss. But as he hit the trigger the pack gave off a deep whirl sound.

"What the…"

He tried firing again. This time the cyclotron erupted out but did not push out the cores. The secondary green power cell stopped mid run and fell back down while the monitor and heat charts began rapidly flashing.

"Goddammit!" He yelled hitting his gun.

Cynder looks back him to find what was wrong. "Overworked the coolant system; Automatic shut down. It's gonna be a minute before I got any real pack functions."

She sighed in dismay, "Great…"

"Incoming!"

As quickly as she could Cynder rolled to the right. The dragon chops it's mouth shut in the place they were before as it looked at them for another attack. Said attack didn't come when Derek saw the massive Boson Dart explode under its jaw.

* _ **WAZOOOMMMMM***_

* _ **SCRAAAAAAAA**_ *

The monster snaps its attention towards the ground group. Growling at whoever dared try to attack it. A purple glow began to fill its mouth again as it dived down after them.

"Great, Leo just pissed it off _big_ time."

The two quickly dive after the creature. Cynder launches several blasts of Poison and even Fear to try and slow it down. Derek fired fired a dual stasis streams at the back of its next that did succeed in forming a crystal around most of its body, freezing it mid air. But it quickly broke free turning back to the two.

Sending another blast of energy its aim was obvious that it didn't care about them because it went right passed them. Watching the blast sail by, Derek's eyes looked over the energy ball, hatching an idea that was as risky as it was stupid.

"Idea."

"What- what are you doing?!" she was startled when she felt Derek shift his weight. Hissing when she felt the heels of his boots accidentally dig into her spine. She didn't know how to react when she felt one of her larger horns on the back of her head get pulled back as Derek now stood on the dragoness back.

"Throw me in front of the blast."

She crooked her head back as far as she could with wide eyes filled if horror, "WHAT?!

"Trust me. Just do it!"

Twisting around so that Derek was pointed to the ground, Cynder violently snaps back as he pushed off her back. Sending him flying straight past the dragon as he got closer to the ground. But that's when he realized that he didn't have much time; he would hit the ground before he could get the monster.

Cynder knew this before the human even jumped. Facepalming with one of her claws she closed her eyes tightly flaring her wings and straightening her body out. Flaring a purple and white fire over her body like a living flame her eyes snapped open as her body pulsed a wave like form. Extinguishing the flames as her black body now held a purple glow that seeped from between everyone of her scales.

The wave raced own the chamber easily out pacing Derek and the creature as a visible blur took over. The sudden wave instantly caught Derek's attention as he saw that the monster itself seemed to become almost frozen by the Force but he continued on.

" _Hurry, I don't know how long I can hold this."_ Cynder's voice said like a wind to his ears.

Not bothering asking he focused back ahead. Stunned to see that the ground was getting further and further away as walls stretching like he was about to go light speed. As the pack shifted into its vent state, the 8 cores all faded out from its standard coloration to a fast pulsing white. Throwing his arm and thrower out causing him to roll in the air. Banking sharply to the right he looks up just in time to see his vision be engulfed by a bright light.

Gritting his teeth to try and hold the stinging surge coursing through his body; he counts to five to make sure the pack for as much power from the blast as he could. Soon the two heat bars on his thrower slowly raised and filled till they took on a green tint. The pack's venting alarm starts going off meaning that all the available power was now stored and the cores were now relocked.

Twisting around he brings his thrower back up to him as he aimed at the creature. The tip of the barrel rapidly builds up a large ball of purple and orange energy as the monster and Derek locked eyes.

Firing the secondary trigger, a massive Boson Dart, gigantic in comparison to the one Leo fired, erupts for the barrel sending Derek falling back further. With the effects of the slowed time the monster had barely anytime at all to move out of the way before the blast collided with its neck.

In seconds of the hit the air around Derek snaps back to normal as the howling sounds of the creature struggling to survive tumbles uncontrollably. But that's when Derek realized that the ground was about to hit at any moment. Closing his eyes he braces for impact. Hoping that the packs shields were strong enough for this kind of fall.

He's suddenly jolted from the thought of impact when he feels two sets of talons dig latch onto his pack straps. Looking straight up his eyes met the worried and relieved eyes of Cynder.

"You alright?*

"Just fine. By he isn't." He said using his rifle to point at the falling monster.

All eyes watched the creature smash into a large slab stone that embedded itself deep into its chest. It wheezes out one more time before falling limb on its side. The immense weight causes the rock to crack in half as the monster landed in its final spot on the chamber floor across from the group. Sending up a large dust cloud that blankets the air for just a few moments.

Using the air compressors their slime blowers had, the ground team steadily blew away the dust cloud to reveal the ravaged body.

"Damn. If we were at home right now the taxidermist would have a heart attack at this.", Roger chuckled. Looking around at the others for a possible response.

But their attention was focused on the dead creature before them. Leo and Jack both had their meters out scanning over the body while the others held her guns tightly to their person if it moved even the slightest twitch.

"It's… not a spiritual entity." Jack waved his meter over the body.

"What does that mean?" Volteer asked walking up behind.

"It's something like what Walkers are. Their living, organic entities that have a high charge of Pke energy that makes them more ghost than anything else."

Leo then added, "But what we witnessed was something completely new. A unknown entity changing between two completely different forms and different kinds like this is something new even to us."

"Meaning that thing is probably something made by Malefor." Spyro said thinking what else the ghost was cooked up.

When the sound of flapping hit them, they all turned up to see Cynder carefully float back down to the ground with Derek hanging by her feet. Getting low enough she lets go of his straps to let him gently land on the ground.

"Thanks."

Cynder nodded as she landed beside him. Turning back to the group all eyes were focused on him with pure shock.

"No matter when, where, or for what… I _Always_ come prepared." He flung his gun back on his belt before picking up his thrower.

"So do I."

He looked over to Leo as he finished placing in the launcher back inside his pack.

"When we get home, and thus is a command not a promise, I wanna use that on something."

"I agree to that fully." Mike said in a calm tone. But one look at him could tell he was just dying to see what kind of firepower the new weapon had.

Ben also raised his hand, "I second that." Leo made sure to hide the device somewhere where Ben couldn't find it. Not wanting to think what unholy destruction the man can cause with it.

Spyro for the time dashed over to Cynder who was just moments away from falling. "You okay Cynder?"

"Yeah… just a bit drained. I just need a moment and all be good."

"What did you do back there?" Their heads turned towards Derek.

"I saw you glow purple and all a sudden everything everything slowed down like I was in the Matrix." He said crossing his arms.

"It's one of my four elements when it comes to being a shadow dragon. I can pause time for a short period and choose who and what is effected or not."

The team's eyes all shot up. Leo and Jack instantly began calculating the possibilities of such a ability when it came to ghostbusting. It would save so much time on trapping; having the enemy stay perfectly still as they walked up and held a trap to its face.

Making a mental note to look into it, Derek shook his head to clear the thought and get back to what was at hand.

"Now that that thing is out of the way, let's get-" his face instantly drops. He becomes almost frozen with emotion as he glanced around the room.

"...We're not alone."

As if to confirm it, everyone's Pke meters began rapidly buzzing with the screens all flashing full red. Keeping a sharp eye out for anything they scanned over the chamber. Looking in every possible place that whatever was causing the ride in energy would just reveal itself.

The two legendaries knew what was truly coming. They could feel it in their bones that something that was gone was right there with them. His gaze was focused on the monster corolla sitting next to them. The shape that the worm had changed into looked all too familiar to him and Cynder knew why.

The shape of the horns, the massive purple and black body mixed with darkened spots that one could call scars. The more features that he spotted, the more the uneasiness feeling he got. Squinting his eyes, he had to take a double check j at what he briefly saw.

It's head was moving.

"There!" he shouts getting into a fighting stance.

"12 o'clock!" Mike yelled as they all faced towards the corpse.

When all eyes locked on the body they were taken back by what was happening now to it. It's head structure was completely changing from its more snake like head to more bulk with three large horns that came from forehead and sides. It's body too warped in size as it's wings began to grow thicker with two talons now at the top of each one. Its color soon changed out from the shadowy black to a purple with a darker tint than Spyro's but not full on black like Cynder's. It back up on its four legs taking several steps back before shaking pieces of stone of its tail. Revealing a long whip like limb that ended in a 3-point tail blade.

Shaking it's head once to make sure everything was done, it's focus turned back to the group with two dead yellow eyes slowly opening while a roitin smirk came over its muzzle.

" _ **Hello again, Spyro."**_

" _Malefor_." It took a lot for the purple dragon to not lash out at the corpse. He chuckled at the sight of the young dragon just edging closer to losing it. * _Grrrrr…* "_ How did you get out of the core? We saw you get dragged down by the spirits themselves."

" _ **True as that maybe. I did not truly get imprisoned like you had thought. While my physical form was destroyed during descent into the never ending abyss, my spiritual form retained its strength with my connection to the power of Convexity and allowed me to stay within a pocket of space that allowed to regain my form. But i knew that I could not return to this realm without the proper requirements."**_

"Black Slime."

" _ **A blunt but yet simple name, It's such a strange substance. Filled with so much raw dark energy, simply yelling insults at it can generate an endless supply. Combined with creatures whose souls are bound to the slime can create the most loyal subjects anyone could ask for."**_

"So why now. After all these years you decided to start flooding the world of this stuff just to gain what, our attention? Strike fear into people to think of the worst possible thing.

" _ **Yes to all. But this world is not what I now only seek. During my exile, I found that this slime as originating from somewhere else. Somewhere so dark that it even made my heart look pure as light. And when it gave me control, I saw it. A symbol. One that it said would be the gateway to not only conquering this world, but one much like it with creatures of an interesting kind that would serve perfectly in replacement to those God awful apes. Never understood why I ever used them in the he first place."**_

The Protonix Ghostbusters stood stunned at what they were hearing.

Malefor had gone literally to the source of the black slime and had much more power than most entities can. And the other world, they knew he was talking about Earth. Deep down in each one of them they felt like every time they done this, our world would always be in the danger zone.

Not wanting to know what could happen if he crossed over to their side, Derek steps forward past Spyro to stand in front of the group. His team following in suite as they took their positions beside their leader.

"We are the Protonix Ghostbusters. By the order on behalf of New York City, Crystalline, Warfang and the residents of Avalar, we order you to return to the world from which you came or to the nearest parallel dimension. Failure to do so will result in immediate extermination." Derek exclaimed.

At that everyone jolted their throwers. The clear barrels on the ends growing in length as the pack cycled more power into the cores. Taking their aim they all wait for his response.

Roger leans in to Derek's shoulder." _Just remember to say Yes if asked if you're a god."_ He whispered quickly moving back.

His head swivels back to the group making them tighten their fingers around the triggers. He was looking straight at them but his eyes moved from side to side like he couldn't find them.

"Fire a warning shot." Mike suggested.

Derek gladly did so. Spyro was about to protest before he aimed at the ground and fire his proton stream. To anyone it was clear that Derek was doing it, but it Malefor all he saw was Spyro with his mouth open that had a bright white light inside making the stream drag across the floor.

His jaw closed right at the second the beam stopped leaving a long scorch trail on the ground. Malefor's yellow eyes narrowing down to them.

" _ **Ah. So you have been learning some new tricks haven't you**_ _?"_ His voice rasped. Almost in a fascinated tone. " _ **So**_ **you managed to defeat my forces from taking over Crystalline and my creature back in Warfang. No matter. With this new found energy, I can become unstoppable!"**

"Uh… are we invisible or something? We're standing right here." Danny pondered way the villain didn't address them and just to Spyro. Leo knew why, "We're from a different dimensional plain. He's a spirit of this world. We're practically ghosts to him that he can't hear or see."

"Sorry to spoil your fun." Cynder said with pure poison. She stood beside Spyro closely in front of the Ghostbusters. "But we came a little prepared this time. Something that you'll know soon enough."

The thoughts of seeing the purple shadow being whammed by every gun the that Protonix has, be absolutely destroyed by her and Spyro for ever coming back causing more and more pain even after he died. And have the satisfaction of watching him get sucked down and contained forever in that big trap that hung on Derek's belt.

" _ **I'm sure you do, young Cynder, I'm sure you do. But how about you say hello… To my New Army.**_ "

He waves his right arm out in the air sweeping it over the group. Instantly a black cloud circles the team as the entire floor area became a ocean of shadows. Gurgling slime and rocks breaking together made everyone back up as they looked all around. The team quickly spread around the five dragons as everyone stood at arms.

Like the Time Square scene from the 2016 movie, the fog bank dissipates to reveal true in his word, an army comprised of towering abominations, easily dwarfing the guardians and what really shocked even the Ghostbusters was that these things were easily three times bigger than your average monster. Watching the new horde grow before their eyes, the team for the first time actually started to get worried.

The big baddy himself was right in front of them and the very second any one of their weapons touch him he'll know they were there. But with the element of surprise still in their play Derek could run over, drop the trap and use his Electron Beam to supercharge it when everyone else weakened and held him. Job done.

But they were now surrounded by every possible known slime monster they know to date. With God knows what else in the addition of a confined space and changing layout made the odds of winning stacked against the team. While they _could_ make out if the horde, the thought of how powerful Malefor was right now ran through Derek's mind.

The Mega Trap is the largest hand held portable trap ever built. Capable of holding hundreds to thousands of entities or massive enemies. The trap was placed at a limit of Class 11s. 14s as it's all time limit. But Malefor was showing signs of much more powerful spirit that would need to be extremely weakened before they could remotely try to capture him.

"Leo, analysis." Derek said holding his gun tightly. If he wasn't wearing gloves one could see how white his knuckles had become.

Leo's eyes scanned over the mass surrounding them. "Surrounded by black slime and some crystal like creatures the size of Ecto-2. Odds against us at minimum, 430 to 1 times 13. We have only one trap and Malefor's right there giving out as much negative energy that could potentially rival Shandor."

"Conclusion," Derek pulled out his rifle off his belt.

"An obvious answer," he said flicking on his blast stream. The pack whirling at the sound of it restarting. The others all pulled out their side weapons and activate their preferred mode. Everyone turned to Derek for the word, "Fight like Hell."

* * *

 **Just two more till I finally the first Arc of this massive story.**

 **For anyone who's played the game Outlast, the Walrider is a ghostly figure seen throughout the game that takes the form at times of a humanized shadow. But in game the entity is actually made up of a swarm of Nantes.**

 **When watching and reading up about it I found that it could really be an interesting enemy for Protonix to encounter and possibly be expanded in another crossover. I did try like the others to tell a story about the team and situation that hasn't been written down yet since this takes place after a lot.**

 **Derek is not the only one with his specialties to his pack. While he does have more the others have their own uniqueness. Leo has a hollowed out part of his pack capable of holding large objects to transport such alas his personal gun, the Proton Launcher. Danny has a equitable grenade attachment that can be connected the his gun to fire any type of grenade further than most can throw. Mike, like Leo, has a compartment inside his pack that holds a ionized staff used for hand to spectre combat. Rachel has a Quick Fix unit that when fired at a down teammate can revive them quicker and much more.**

 **But unlike Derek who uses his often, the others only use there's as a last resort.**

 **Wow, this is now officially the biggest chapter I've ever written. 14,000 plus words, I feel like I accomplished Something.**


	24. Battle in the Mountain

Chapter 24: Battle in the Mountain

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

"Alright people… on my signal." Derek said taking aim to a cluster in front of him. Everyone got into a position with their power charged up. The team looks to each other for a moment before all nodding at once.

"Get ready… do actually as I say." The horde came closer and closer to them. The dragons tensioning up at what he was waiting for. "Ready?THROW IT!"

Instantly the room erupted into Hell on Earth, or Avalar in this case. When Derek yelled out, the horde surrounding them charged. Screeching, snarling, roaring and just about every other sound they made filled the chamber. But they couldn't reach the group in time when a unbelievable force cut through them. For the group, everyone lite up their throwers and elements on a single blast that easily decimated the first wave.

Most of the Ghostbusters utilized their slime blowers for their primaries. The addition of the positive slime eating away at the creatures made it easier for the dragons to finish them off by shredding, exploding or smashing. While doing so they had to rely on any of their handhelds to deal damage.

Mike was doing pretty well with just a proton pistol while Jack struggled to hold both his gun and the Shock Gun bin one hand. Making most shots of the Inductor or Stasis to miss but still whammed close targets with shock blast.

Derek tossed his rifle to Rachel since he could use his cannon and give her more firepower. Both were standing side by side unleashing a pair of blast and slime streams.

"This is just like Paris!" Rachel yelled over the fight.

"You and I remember Paris very differently!" Derek shouted back. Both were trying to protect Leo as he brought back out his launcher. Why he didn't keep it out was a long shot bit when he finally got it assembled he jumped between the two firing a large fire ball projectile straight into a Abomination that was charging.

"I thought that thing had more power!" Derek shouted.

"That's if it's connected to a pack! Its running on its-" he fires into another cluster that almost got a jump of Cyril. "-own power. It's half the charge. Still effective though."

Before they could saw anything a blast stream cut right in front of them. A Screecher flying low was being chased by Danny as he fired. "I should've kept my pack!" he yelled running past them. The three of them all aimed at the Screecher firing all their guns.

Meanwhile for the dragons, they were making unprecedented progress. With the additional armor that utilized their elements to act as enchantments making their movements quicker and their attacks hit with lightning speeds.

Except for Volteer. His attacks were just the same.

Clusters of monster and ghosts came charging again and again; only to be swatted away by the dragons' massive tails. Much larger entities went up to more hand to hand fight. Terrador was doing just that with another Abomination that tried to bite down on the earth dragon's neck but was held firm. Using his own body as leverage Terrador forced it down on its back before blasting a stone spike straight through its head. Satisfied with the he let out a battle cry before charging into another monster.

Volteer for the time was trying to keep up with the Ghostbusters blasting his lightning into the swarm of ghosts that encircled the area like a tornado. Following what the team said repeatedly; that a positive energy is what can affect a ghost's PK energy, he sent more positive charged bursts of electricity into the vortex in a state that made him simply look like he was spitting. Seeing how he worked his element Jack quickly ran the numbers in his head of a plan.

Cutting his attack he runs over and jumps on the dragon's tail. Running up to his back he positions himself between the base of Volteer's wing setting his pack into the setting to utilize the energy dampeners. Feeling the human on his back the guardian waited for the plan.

"Open wide!"

Volteer nodded and opened his mouth as wide as he could. Jack then fires a stream straight into one of the bolt shaped spikes on the armor as it took on a red tint. The stream then coiled around the spike as the lightning coursing through the armor suddenly became more sporadic and taken on a pur red glow. Feeling the extra power suddenly surging him he unleashing the most powerful lightning breath he could ever remember.

Many ghosts were caught off guard but this failing to see the lightning hitting them was more like a emerald green proton stream that for some instantly destroyed dozens of entities. Others broke away from formation to flee but were caught by a stray stream or Cynder flying around spraying acid upon them while holding a small vortex to put them closer for the re-kill.

For the Pilot, Younger Brother and Cyril it was more like a game of grab 'em and slam 'em.

Cyril would send blizzards at enemies slowing them down till they became just ice statues. Then Mike would come in slime down as much as possible, let Ben wrangle the creature into the air and proceed to smash it into thousands of pieces. What was more strange about this, Ben stood on the dragon's back firing at the same time the guardian did. He laughed every time he slammed. And he wasn't alone, Cyril was in wonderland humming a tone as he just kept his mouth open letting out frozen hell.

Up above the group with his shadow like body hugging right against the wall, Malefor watched the battle below him raging.

He saw that the five dragons, despite his thoughts going on only two in particular, were fighting in a combined formations with each one doing a part that the other finished. At first he was surprised to see so many drop at their efforts. But something wasn't as it seemed. When they did attack he saw the streams of green slime, orange lightning and a bunch of other lights form all around them in a circle coming from nowhere. He thought it was first a trick.

His forces from earlier that surged the failed invasion told them of strange white objects racing all over the battlefield and even the air emitting the same thing he saw before him. And the one Abomination, he liked how they looked like what a true evil creature was suppose to look like actually get one shot through its head downing it permanently. Then the green slime that was spraying itself all over coated it's body before bubbling away.

The slime was something he tried to figure out. It didn't come from any of the dragons. That being they came from much lower than the guardians' heads and was too far for the other two to be the source of. He watched his army get destroyed by the blasts and recover. It was nice having troops that would get right back into battle, not that he could care a pinch less about there livse. But the slime would destroy the pools they were reforming from and were quickly losing numbers.

He watched Volteer become red with energy. His own lightning that the dark master knew of took on a orange-red color as he obliterated his spirits. Spyro firing his lightning into absolutely nothing that just a 5 feet away became a even bigger bolt. He watched it with curiosity; how it moved by itself while Spyro stood perfectly still. That's when he saw one of his monsters charging at the be dragon. The thought of his arch enemy being beaten down without him lifting a claw made him watch closely.

What got him curious was that the orange bolt cut itself off and Spyro was pushed away from its path. It's large fists smashing down on the spot where he stood formed pair of twin craters. The beam comes back again but this time accompanied by a now darker blue stream that coiling around itself with more slime. Malefor watched the monster roar in agony as it charged towards the source. Flailing it's fists around while spewing black slime. The three beams all came back at it with their forces combined to destroy the top half of its body.

Cynder swooped in, spraying poison acid clouds over the body parts as they bubbled away. Doubling back she turned to look down to Spyro, who was… talking to himself?

His thousand year old eyes blinked several times. Spyro, and now Cynder beside him were literally talking to empty air. Moments later they disperse; both dragons talking to the air while the unknown force created the beams again.

Back in the battle, the others were surprised at the out come. With the dragons doing most of the tearing and the team making sure that nothing can come back, they practically wipe the floor with the monsters.

When the last creature was left, a _tiny_ spider like creature that when everyone was standing in front of it, guns and maws aimed, let out a tiny screech before running away. It didn't get far however, as Spyro simply spitted a small flame that arched perfectly down on top of it. Making it squeal before Derek simple shot his own slime mine at it.

"And that's that." He said twirling his gun.

"Now we just one left." The purple dragon's eyes trailed up to Malefor.

A satisfying smirk creeped across his muzzle as his hole filled wings spread out, gliding down to the floor in front of them.

" _ **Well I must say that was fairly interesting to watch.**_ " He said landing in utter silence. Everyone put away their side arms and dialed their throwers' to maximum power. Making sure that they were vented and primed for what was to come.

" _Spyro_." Derek whispered down. Not wanting to draw attention to the dragon.

" _Yeah_?" he said through the corner of his lip.

" _Distract him as long as you can. We'll flank around and whale on him when he least expects it. Signal is when you think he's ready."_

" _Gotcha."_

Derek turned to his team. "Come on. Let's get into position." At that the team split up in both directions. Mike, Danny, Rachel and Roger to the left. Ben, Leo and Jack to the right. Hooking his gun to his pack Derek begins disconnecting the Mega Trap from his belt. Setting the capture rate and zone to max he takes the main handle of the trap in his left hand and with all his might, throws the trap out underneath Malefor. It clanks several times but Malefor doesn't seem to notice when it stopped directly below his chest.

" _ **As I will say, that was quite a show to watch. But for your efforts were in vain of how much more I have control over."**_

"Give it a rest, Malefor. What do you want this time." Spyro bluntly said standing proud before the dragon, though with clear annoyance plastered on him. Malefor raised a brow at how mature the dragon got.

" _ **Simple really. A new body. And now that I have five options before me…"**_

His maw drops down in a flash of purple fire. The pair are taken off guard by the sudden blast and bring their wings up to shield themselves the best they could. The fire impacts where they stood and raves across the ground at the guardians. Volteer, still charged with protonic energy jumps in the path and unleashes all the remaining power he had. The fire did little to resist the green lightning as it surged up over it like a cage. Cutting of the air needed to maintain it.

Volteer held this as long as he could till both fire and energy were depleted. Returning his armor back into its electric blue coloration. For the others that was in the brunt of the blast when they didn't feel anything they carefully lowered their wings. A purple bubble was surrounding them courtesy of Derek's own protonix pack's shielding. While Malefor couldn't see it, the two legendaries watched as Derek groaned a bit under the weight. Cynder looked up to see the two green bars where the thrower is held to the pack quickly dropping.

Thankfully the blast didn't last too long for him to go into revive. Breathing heavily Derek stumbled back some trying to regain his senses.

" _Keep going…_ " he muttered to the purple dragon.

" _ **Fascinating… you managed to create an energy field that not only blocked out my dark fire but even absorb it. You two really have grown since we last met."**_ his gaze then drifted to the three dragons present. " _ **Ah! And look who finally decided to come out of their shells and actually do something other than nothing.**_ "

The three Guardians all hung their head a little. It was true, for practically every problem since they found out about Spyro they've sent him and Cynder out to figure out the problem. And this is what it lead up to.

" _ **But…**_ " his eyes darted around. Almost as if looking for something. " _ **Where is the fire breather. Oh? Let me guess, he threw himself away all those years ago.**_ "

Cynder knew what Malefor was trying to do. Whenever someone would bring up Ignitus in any way that was negative, it would strike a nerve in Spyro so close to his heart that he could almost go Dark and tear them apart.

"No." Spyro said in such a blank tone. Surprising the them at how he wasn't lashing out in anger. "He scarified himself to help us end you and protect us. He was a someone that would have our backs any day. And while he might not be here today, he did help us by doing one thing."

" _ **And what might that be."**_

Cynder, to the large dragon's unknown, looked up to her right with a evil grin before looking back at the dark lord.

"He knew who to call."

"FIRE!" A new voice filled the chamber and Malefor's ears. In a bright flash of light the same orange lightning from before erupted from between the dragons. A massive ball was at the head of the beam as it took a direct hit on his face.

At first he expected something like lightning with a more punch to it or with a burn burning effect like fire. Not this, this he felt a unbelievable pain from the beam hitting over his head and neck; he could feel himself getting actually weaker by this light. He tried bringing up his shadow to attack as a shield. But this was instantly destroyed by the lightning cutting straight through and impacting him again.

In the corner of his eye Malefor could now see his attacker. He was dumbfounded when he saw the tall blue and black figure standing in between Spyro and Cynder with a large black object on his back and another in his hands making the lightning come out.

He roared in anger, facing the new bring that thought it could take him he fights through the pain to build up a blast of Convexity.

Then he felt the same pain impact all over his body.

The others joining in with Derek as 7 simultaneous Boson Darts and blast streams pelted Malefor's body. The remanence of the previous creature burned away like ash as his true body, now a purple and black with massive lines of glowing red energy ran across his body.

"Woah! Is this what Malefor really looks like?" Danny yelled out to no one in particular. "He looks so damn ugly!"

Malefor turned his attention to the Ghostbuster, " _ **How dare you incompetent pe-AHH!**_ " If it was one thing that the Protonix Ghostbusters knew, and what most people should know, was that a villain was always their most distracted when monologuing.

Everyone had time to quickly vent out and switch from proton stream to slime blower. Malefor's purple body became matted with blobs covering his body as they piled faster and faster making most of his features become unrecognizable.

(Think of when Vigo's head in gb2 was getting heavily coated in slime to where you couldn't see any detail of his head.)

Malefor tried to fighting, aiming small blasts of Convexity or other elements that were just as easily cancelled out by the substance. His wings became heavy from saturation making them stick to his body. The Smith Brothers both quickly switched back to proton and tried to wrangle him. But the streams disobeyed and only latched around his back legs. Taking the chance they both yank back pulling them out from underneath Malefor. His entire body collapses to the ground as his body became glued to the ground.

" _ **Nooo-!**_ " Malefor felt his head get grabbed by Derek's proton stream. Like a chain around a wild animal he tried yanking free but found that no matter how hard he pulled Derek yanked him lower to the ground.

As his head got closer, everyone steadily moved back up towards Derek's position sliming down the purple dragon's long neck. Mike and Ben both switch to proton a.d wrangle around his head along with Derek. The three men struggling with the massive weight that the streams held

"Slam it!" Mike shouted lifting his thrower higher. The others do so as on unison they bring them down. The streams arch back like a whip before sending the dragon's head straight into the ground.

The impact was so great, that the dragons all took several steps back to avoid getting hit by debris while the trio were knocked to the ground. The others stayed at a distance not to be affected and continued to slime him, covering up the rest of his neck, horns and eventually his entire head. When the packs' alarms sounded that the tanks were empty now they all vented (venting the pack while in Slime Blower makes it regenerate instantly. Don't know why, ask Dan Aykroyd.) and made their way towards the group. Keeping their aims on the downed beast as Rachel and Roger helped them up.

When Derek got to his feet he looked over the massive blob that laid in the center of the chamber.

"Well that wasn't so hard." He chuckled.

Danny jumped up in the air, "WOO! NO ONE MESSES WITH THE GHOSTBUSTERS! ESPECIALLY PROTONIX!" he then gave his brother a slap on the hand.

"From what the books and stories said I expected a more of a fight." Mike said looking over to Leo. "Guess I was wrong?" Leo didn't answer. His eyes were glued to his Pke meter as he scanned over Malefor.

Meanwhile, behind them the dragons stood awe struck by the victory. Spyro was impressed but yet felt extremely jealous at how easy they defeated someone that took him years in just minutes. Cynder on the other hand was crying out in joy like a little kid getting everything they wanted on Christmas. Wanting to show it though she let out a huge rare smile as she saw the team stand before Malefor like hunters who stopped a monster.

For the Guardians it was a harder pill to swallow. They tried thinking of all the problems, all the chaos and fights that had happened in the past just dissolve like paper in a rainstorm from what their eyes saw. They couldn't believe it.

Just like that; they won again.

"Just imagine…" Terrador and Cyril turned to Volteer. "What would it of been like, if they were here when Malefor turned. We could of prevented so much hardship and yet we didn't know who to call."

Terrador sighed at what his friend was thinking. "The past is the past. While it would've been nice to have such a group like them with us in those days." He looked over at the celebrating group. But slowly his eyes drifted down to the two dragons sitting just a few feet behind them. "We still got two of the most powerful beings in the world to prevent our extinction. And by extension, the Ghostbusters."

"This calls for a celebration back home." Cyril gleamed. Picturing what the reaction would be like.

"Indeed." Terrador nodded. Leaving his spot he headed towards the team. The others following as they all came up behind the legendaries.

Noticing their presence Spyro looked back up to them. "So now what?" They honestly didn't know. But the team did.

A familiar buzzing sound caught their attention. Looking back they saw the team slowly backing up from Malefor's body with their guns held tightly.

"This isn't over yet." Derek said sternly as he lowered his primed his cannon.

Leo held out his Pke meter so that the dragons could all see. "This is very, very bad." he quickly holsters it and draws his gun. It's buzzing doesn't stop and continued to grow louder.

Realizing that this wasn't truly over the dragons all got into fighting stances. Just as it couldn't get any louder the very ground beneath their feet began to quake. The slime that covered the Dark Lord's body began to take on a much more pale tint as it cracked and warped.

Suddenly a large yellow eye facing them springs open through the goo as the head and neck break off from the ground. Piece of now hardened slime rained down like glass as it cracked all over his body.

"What happened to the trap?!" Rachel yelled.

"He's not weak enough!" Leo replied. "We only got him down by 2 units. He needs to be at 9 before the trap can hold him!"

Mike deadpanned hard from this, "Well that's just-"

 _ ***BOOM***_

Massive shards of slime shoot all over the place narrowly colliding with the group. Letting out a ferocious that shakes the entire chamber two bright yellow eyes filled to the brim with anger stared down at the team.

" _ **YOU PATHETIC FLESH BAGS. NO ONE CAN STOP ME! NO ONE!**_ " He leaps high into the air. Passing the by several crystals that aligned the walls as his body began to take on a much brighter purple.

"Evasive Maneuvers!" Derek shouted running in a random direction. Everyone spreads out just in time as Malefor smashes into the ground where they stood.

The pillar of pure convexity impacted that ground with sparks flying everywhere. Everyone quickly ran from the beam as fast as they could bit wanting to know what could happen if hit.

Twisting around to aim, Rachel fired a larger particle stream at the dragon just behind his left front leg going down toward his wings. But instead of having the usual tinting that the proton packs gave an entity to indicate health, her stream merely cut a small line across his body with a fire trail left behind.

Her eyes widened in disbelief as she tried hitting a different area. "He's resisting my proton stream!"

True to her word, Malefor's body was quickly beginning to coat himself in a thick layer of black slime preventing the streams from doing adequate damage. Releasing the problem everyone popped back into slime blower; having to use Slime Mines instead to get a decent hit while trying to stay at a distance.

Flying up behind Derek, Spyro summoned his lightning breath to his protonix pack cores just as he vented out. Using the main blower with the boost the once green slime rockets out of the blower like a fire hose on full blast with now a blue tint mixed in.

Malefor's attention was now focused on the pair as he sent another blast in their direction. Moving quickly they dodge out of the way while keeping the pressure on. "Leo, how much do we need him down before we can reel him in?!"

"A lot more than this!" he shouted back.

Leo for the most part wasn't fighting. He was planning. He dodge every blast of energy from the dragon or his team mates. Narrowly missed getting crushed by one of Terrador's boulders that smashed into Malefor, turning into a hailstorm of rock. Frantically running towards Malefor's underbelly, racing to the location the Mega Trap still was. Dodging passed one of the giant legs, he jumps to the trap. Grabbing it he rolls to his side quickly jumping back up to his feet. Malefor spins around to see him carrying the device but is taken away by a fear blast and boson to the eye.

"Well that got his attention." Rachel said lowering her gun.

"Yep!" Cynder yelped nearly having Malefor's massive jaw nearly miss devouring them in the air. Blasting several single or combined shots of elements the two dodged carefully around. Rachel takes aim swapping to Overload Pulse sending a quick Meson Beacon just on his neck for the shots to locate.

On near the ground Spyro was avoiding his attacks as well nearly getting blind sighted by great big balls of Convexity. Watching Cynder and Rachel nearly have their heads taken off from a blast and avoid falling rock from above he swoops down to where Derek was letting loose on the Plasma Inductor. But instead of aiming at Malefor he fired the shots at the wall making each one ricochet off at an even faster speed that did hit.

When he heard something land near him he spins around ready to fire to find the dragon. "The girls could use some help."

Derek looked up to see his girlfriend and the black dragoness flying around with sessions of blasts.

"Indeed they do."

Turning around Derek vents out opening the cyclotron cores. Spyro gets into position of a pouncing stance as he lined up his shot.

"Slime?" He asked as he saw the cores switch from blue to yellow.

"Got a better idea." At that Spyro fired a lightning bolt at the pack. The cores humming with new found energy as Derek hit the secondary fire.

The Overload Pulse is known for being quick. Meant to be the Ghostbusters version of a assault rifle against biological entities like walkers, monsters and anything more organic than spiritual. Malefor being one of them. But the moment the human hit the trigger, the idea of a rifle was quickly replaced by the idea of a minigun firing a almost solid beam of meson particles at a rate no weapon the team, or any team in the history of Ghostbusters was firing at nailed right below the ghost dragon's wing.

The rapid damage had a instantaneous effect as it trained upward cutting across the base of his left wing. Keeping the fire focused on the weak spot Malefor tries turning around to attack but is reverted by one of the others. With the pain building to a point where his power couldn't heal the spot, Malefor drops to the ground on all fours like a collapsing building.

Only the effect was another energy pulse racing through the ground like a tsunami moving under the rock surface. Acting quickly everyone either jumps as high as they could over the wave letting it pass underneath, or to run to a stone that had fallen during the battle. But for Spyro and Derek, their focus was to focused on Malefor they failed to realize the wave before their both knocked off their feet. Both lose their focus cutting their attack as they fall face first into the ground.

Bringing his right arm around himself Derek lands against his elbow pad with a muffled slap as he hit against the stone. Spyro on the other hand ended up back flipping from the hit landing hard on his chest and head.

"You alright?" Derek calls as he jumped back to his feet.

Spyro stands back up rubbing the side if his neck. "Yeah. Leg just hurts a bit." Looking back he checked on his rear legs. Finding that a small shard of rock had embedded itself just above his knee. Without little thought, he reaches back and pulls the stone out.

Watching him through the stone away, Derek looked over to the wound that was just barely starting to bleed. "Pebble to the knee?" Spyro looked up to the human who had a trolling smirk plastered on his face. "At least it's not a arrow."

 _ ***CKH-OOOMMMM***_

A large red light lights up Derek's back side like a lightning strike.

"Back to business!" He yelled going back to firing. Spyro rolled his eyes as he reconnected his lightning. Painting more of the dragon's purple body be painted by the gun. Through the damage dealt, the coloration across Malefor's body was shifting from a green to a yellowish color. Most of the attacks done by the group quickly picked up strength as the color dropped into the red.

"He's weakening!" Leo yelled as he watched the pie chart on his gun group significantly. Finishing recalibrating the trap he tosses back near where it was. The beacon now coming to life like a flame as it faded in and out.

"Get a capture stream on him!" Mike activated the third fire of his proton wand.

His stream grows in length like a rope as it coiled and wrapped around the dark lord's torso. Seeing the stream hold the others quickly join in as he became entangled by a cage of particle energy.

Seeing his team struggling to hold him Derek waves off Spyro. "We got this. Go join the others!" He then fired his stream.

Nodding Spyro takes to the air and glides back to the others all huddled to watch. They did want to get in and fight, but the situation right now would cause more chaos if they tried to join in.

Holding their ground as hard as they physically could the team lifted their throwers together feeling all of the weight from the ghost dragon as he struggled to break free. Detecting the that an entity was indeed wrangled close by, the top half of the circular plate jolts around clockwise opening four panels that covered the inner field.

Inside a five point disk spiraled open igniting the entire trap into a flash of orange light as a large white and purple cone erupts out. Speeding wider at the top to make sure it held most of his body.

"HOLD HIM STILL!" Leo yelled. "ITS GOTTA WEAR HIM DOWN BEFORE HE CAN GO IN!" he quickly steps forward to try to hold on.

Moving closer and closer till they stood shoulder to shoulder the everyone had to several steps forward to try to balance out the pull that the dragon was making.

The dragons quickly started back pedaling some when they saw several of the beams coil around each other shifting from orange to a green color before jolting separate. They saw the packs flashing like a disco with a black cloud starting to seep out of the vents and cores. They didn't know how a proton pack at all; even from what Protonix told them so far, but they were pretty sure they weren't suppose to smoke like _that._

While they couldn't see it, they could smell it and see that their streams were even being effected.

"What's happening?!" Ben yelled trying to strengthen the beam.

"Packs are going into early stages of a meltdown! They need to be vented, Fast!" Jack yelled.

For Derek, Leo and Rachel their problem wasn't the possible meltdown but the amount of energy the trap was still taking in and not Malefor himself.

"HE'S TOO POWERFUL. THE TRAP'S JUST DRAINING WHAT HE'S REPLACING!" Yelled with his left hand itching to go into Electron.

"HOW MUCH CAN IT-" Before anyone could answer Roger, a sharp electrical explosion rocked the entire area. The capture cone faded away as the trap slammed shut. Several _'pkops'_ could be heard as the entire trap shook violently else white light began to crack all over its body.

 _ ***KA-CHMOOOOO***_

Everyone flies back when the trap explodes into a fireball similar the the 1984 firehouse's containment unit blowing up with bright flashes of purple and pink light escaping from the hold cells. Because of how everything goes straight up, the blast went straight into Malefor's chest.

A ghost lightning surges over his body in seconds. Overtaken by so much energy suddenly coming to him, Malefor groans and howls in agony as he felt every cell of his body and soul expand thirty times bigger.

" _ **Soo… much… POWER!**_ " In a mighty jolt his wings launch out. Causing a wave of energy to bellow out cutting of all the streams holding onto him.

The backlash launches all the Ghostbusters into the air making them tumble several times before hitting the ground hard on their backs. Skidding some distance towards the dragons.

"Guys!" Spyro ran up to them with a limp. Before he could reach them another blast surges through the chamber sending the purple dragon back to where he originally was.

"He's gotta be at least a Class 29 Transdimensional-"

Rachel interrupted Leo's "He's too powerful!"

Jumping to his feet, Derek snatches his thrower off the ground pulls off the silver ring on the barrel. "It's time. Cross the Streams!"

* * *

One more and I'll be done you Arc 1. While this may be cliche on how the fight is at the end it's what will open for Arc 2.

I had imagined the fight to be kinda like the final fight in Avengers Age of Ultron with the team just swarmed with bots. In another case I did think this would of been longer but that might of been due to what the last chapter was and what the next chapter will be.

One more chapter in Arc 1. Surprised that my first ever story on this site reached about 42 chapters and was when I was starting out. This story will be by far my biggest one to date. Though I hope to get the first story (Timeline wise this is the fifth story) going again.


	25. Ghost of the Dragon

Chapter 25: Ghost of the Dragon

Arc 1: The Call

* * *

Nearly a year and I finally have reached a milestone. After this arc one will finally be done.

 **Happy Halloween** **2016**

* * *

"It's time. Cross the Streams!" Everyone nearly froze at how strong Derek had said that line.

While most teams worry of a universal ending explosion, given the rights of constant adaptation to technology the Protonix Ghostbusters found a way to cross streams without that risk. The back lass and hard to aim stream was the only thing they usually had to worry about when doing it.

With the cross stream governor automatic and the relay coil, the metal ring on the clear barrel of the main thrower that tells the governor to retract the energy causing a backlash it was hard to cause a problem when crossing.

But when the ring is removed, it can't sensor when the streams are crossing and trigger the defense mechanism. The team had only done this twice in the past 7 years; fighting Shandor when 31 of them with additional 24 Ghostbusters all created a blast that set our entire universe back a year. And Infestation with more powerful packs that combined with what one could assume was every known nuclear weapon on Earth. If Derek was taking off his only means of protection of complete particle reversal in this battle, everyone knew to prepare for the worse.

Quickly plucking off the rings and letting them hang down by a red wire the team fired together as they focused on Malefor's chest and head.

"Spyro!" Derek called out as loud as he could. "Get everyone in a barrier now!"

The dragon was puzzled to say the least. "Why? What are you-" "JUST DO IT!" Derek practically roared at him with only a single glance towards him.

Spyro could honestly see the determined look on the human's eyes. The level that those three words meant was on the same level he had been at when he thought the world was truly going to end. Stepping back some he planted his claws firmly into the ground, flashing his eyes in a glow of light purple as a bubble of rock began forming around the dragons.

Watching Spyro build the wall, Terrador stepped in adding a second layer over it. Cyril forming a sheet of ice between the layers to act as a window as they watched the fight. Volteer fusing lightning on the outside as a first defence if the energy build up was too great.

From what Leo described and Jack had shown on his phone how big/powerful a nuclear explosion was like, they all stacked the layers three times over to prevent from being affected. But there attention was focused more to the humans than their own safety. They were just moments away from what could be the team's very death and yet they stood here; hiding behind a shield, the most powerful dragons on the planet were completely useless right now.

Stepping up closer to the ice window that gave them visual, Cynder looked at each buster with worry. Each one fighting to get ahold of the very same creature that caused her so much trouble. And yet her she was watching them. It made her almost sick to her stomach; watching others sacrifice their lives to save others against something that threatened even their world.

She could feel a lone tear escape from the corner of her eye. And a wing wiping it away.

Spyro stood close by his by friend's side. Draping a wing tightly over his body and pulling her close to his.

"They'll be alright, Cynder. Their stronger than they look." He said to try and reassure her and everything himself.

On the other side of the ice, a mini hurricane was wiping all around the chamber threatening to sweep the team off their feet. Malefor continued to struggled against the higher power the pack's were sending out his as much energy as he replenished.

' _ **How can this be!? These mutations of my own troops are going more than what that gnat Spyro did! I must learn more about them. But first I must grow…'**_

Looking down to the floor of the chamber, a crack of green light formed just a few feet away from the group; spreading like broken glass as it became wider and wider. The wind instantly picked up as the cracked ground gave way to a massive green and red abyss. Now rock, blobs of slime, Malefor and the Ghostbusters were getting pulled in.

"Portal!" Mike fought to step back.

"I got it!" Quickly switching up his modes, Derek sends his cannon ablaze as it slowly took the power away from the gun. Switching to slime blower Derek quickly sprays the growing area around them weaving it back and forth.

The slime does its job, the edges begin to bubble up as it started to shrink. But as quickly as it did the portal surges in strength making the areas sprayed become part of it again. Aiming at the center Derek tries to dissipate it by its core but the slime holds very little effect in sealing.

"It's not staying closed. Too much energy is feeding through." He swapped back into full stream.

As the room changes from a purple to green color, Malefor; still riddled with all the damage and fighting to control the sudden retake in energy, saw the portal forming under him. He knew where it went. He spent years trying to get out and once he did was through the very same vortex under him now.

It was his ticket out of here.

Twisting his body down so that he went head first his body jolted by its sudden grasp. We was quickly descending at an alarming rate.

"He's trying to escape!"

"Capture Streams, NOW!"

Doing as told everyone hit their third fires making the beams coil roughly around the dragon's body. Halting his progress the team struggled to slow him down.

"Don't let him get through!" As Leo said this, Malefor's tail and legs began to get pulled down into the portal like a ghost would in a trap.

Soon the bottom portion of his entire body became that of a ghostly form with his limbs all vanishing in the vortex. They knew the moment his wings got inside, they would surely lose him.

And Derek knew what to do next. "Everyone deactivate your pulse. And we'll cross the streams with the blast function."

When their fingers left the buttons,that's when they realized they were in deep trouble. Their guns didn't stop firing.

"I can't shut mine down, Derek!" Rachel tried banging on her gun to shut it off.

Leo tried shutting off his pack entirely but the switch didn't respond."Me too!"

Everyone was quickly losing control of their equipment as the streams then started to become entangled together. Flickering for a moment until two or three combined into a larger green beam.

That wasn't all.

Almost every alarm on their packs started blaring as everyone's cores ejected out like to vent. But instead of steam columns of smoke and burning coolant leaked out as the core rods remained a solid red growing in intensity.

Jack, having built most of these packs instantly knew what was up. "The packs are overloading!"

"Too much power!" Leo added trying to pull away his stream. But it refused to budge.

In no time all eight streams soon overlap and merged into a massive green and red beam that looked like it would come out of the Death Star impacting the Dark Lord. The room then takes on a much darker green color outmatched by the portal as the energy viens if the dragon's body ignite with power.

" _ **N-No!**_ " Malefor roared. Not holding but the pain he felt of his body getting torn to pieces atom by atom.

The team weren't handling this well either. Their packs were producing unbelievable heat that threatened to light them into human torches. But they couldn't turn back now; it was either risk Malefor getting away, or the destruction of all life. In everyone's minds that question rang like church bells on Christmas.

Then a familiar whirl started to build up. They knew what this meant. It was that burst of power seen in the 1984 movie that launches the cross point causing a total nuclear blast. Fear began to grow between them all as their throwers shook more violently in their grasp.

"Go!, Go!, Get out of here!" Derek yelled as a flash of light went through their guns and up the stream. Everyone was able to cut their streams away and try to duck and cover. Running as far as they could from the blast.

Derek however didn't move. He didn't have time to react when the loss of power made the beam explode with the energy surge going out the end into Malefor. For a second nothing happened; but then a massive fireball erupted from the dragon in all directions.

Realizing what this was, the dragons quickly sealed the ice over with rock and ducked down. The sound of a thousand armies marching on every inch of the barrier filled their ears as they held on tightly.

With what a nuclear blast could be, the entire chamber is engulfed with a red fire shooting through every space it could get out of. Tunnels became lava tubes in seconds from the sheer hear while the tower of energy erupted up out of the top. Blasting rock that fell to the ground below, the ball raced up the length of the mountain destroying the snow cap and unleashing its full power.

 _Crystalline_

From the city of Crystalline, work on the clean up was just about wrapping up. Most of the citizens had come out of hiding when the all clear of threats was announced.

Sitting at the open path of what Kinh Redstone now called the Valley of Ghosts, wanting to have a way of thanking the team by naming this land after the Ghostbusters, had his eyes locked on the mountain range he knew they were at.

"Lord Redstone," turning around the king saw Wave walking up to him. He was about to say something but a bright flash of light caught his, Redstone and the entire city's attention.

 _ **BOOOOOOOM**_

All eyes now focused to the fireball bellowing from the mountain. The light so bright that it dwarfed the Sun like it was a candle in the open desert.

Redstone knew it wasn't volcanic. He and his family weren't called Redstone for anything. But when the shockwave hit, everyone and thing were blasted back some feet trying to hold on. As quick as it came, it left. Leaving the city now a mess again just like after the battle.

But it wasn't just Crystalline. All around the world did its inhabitants feel some kind of effect from the blast.

Earth dragons everywhere screamed in agony as if the world itself just blew up. Forests all around jolted back by the wind knocking trees loose and causing mass hysteria for the wild life. Anyone in the air at that moment would hear a faint ringing for a moment until a sharp electric charge surged through their bodies. Some weaker to its effects lost all control of themselves dropping out of the air like flies.

 _Mountain_

After what felt like hours, in truth only lasted 16 seconds, the rumbling had stopped.

The dragons all looked to each other if the latter would have something to say. Once the barrier was carefully dropped, with avoiding rock that had landed on it, their eyes were meet with the glow of faint sunlight and devastation. The entire chamber was in recognisable, having nearly tripled in size all around with the walls still shearing hot. Holes that lead into the maze of tunnels were now exposed to the world with the top of the room now sitting at the exact same spot as the Malefor and the team were at.

Then it hit them. They were gone.

Cynder scanned over the area. Letting her shadow go into the deep cracks to find anything. "Guys!? Where are you?!" she began hopping from one place to another.

"Is anyone there?!" Spyro shouted climbing over the collapsed pile.

The guardians didn't hesitate to follow. Swiftly they started pulling rocks away from where they hoped the team wasn't. Terrador took charge of smashing much larger boulders so that the others just brushed clear with their tails. Flying over to Spyro Cynder looked at her friend with worry. None of her elements could sense any of the team members.

Not wanting to accept the possible outcome, Spyro took in a deep breath and shouted. "ANYONE, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

" _Here…"_ A weak rasp got their attention. Spinning around they all watched with wide eyes as Rachel limped from around a rock pile. Her indigo suit was now literally moments away from falling apart with dirt covering most of her. Several red spots were forming on her pants that was evident of something broken. But she wasn't alone. Behind her barely standing was Roger that looked more beaten up than injured but yet had a streak of red coming down his forehead. Behind them both was a barely conscious Ben with with his arms folded over his chest. The left side of his torso was heavily torn apart with several large slashes going across and around his stomach.

"Rachel!" Spyro dashed over in time just before the human could collapse. The human fell over across his back with the weight of her body and pack falling down. Getting a hold of her side the purple dragon slowly twisted her around so that she laid on top of her equipment. The other two limped over taking a seat on a rock across from them.

Right before they could ask anything, Ben sudden sits up from his position looking over to the other side of the room. "DANNY!"

Everyone looks over a in the direction he was facing just in time to see Danny carefully climbing down a large boulder. He looked more exhausted than the others were with his suit covered in a thick layer of dust. On top of of the boulder was Leo preparing to follow the Older Smith's path with Jack holding tightly to his right arm. Both had some what mirrored injuries with Leo trying to not move his left arm as much. Jack's had a long gash leading from his under his ghost badge around his elbow ending just before his glove. His right leg however was bent in the wrong direction with his thigh facing out and the knee facing inside.

Volteer quickly flies over to the three stretching out his wing for Leo to slide on. He looks up for Jack to join but he just waves the dragon off to deal with the latter. Touching down between the rock and Danny he gently lowers it back down; Leo struggles for a moment to stand but manages to regain his balance holding his arm.

"Thanks…" he looked up to the lightning dragon who nodded. Looking over to the others further away he looked around for a moment. "Mike?"

"Over here." he called walking up to the clearing the dragons sat on during the blast. Like Danny he was more dirty but covered in soot from head to toe. Holding his pistol on his hand he looked over everyone before holstering his weapon.

"Police training. It can do you wonders."

"Yeah figured that much." Danny walked up.

"Leo…" Rachel limped over using Spyro as a support. "What… what the Hell happened?"

Once everyone was gathered around, the head scientist let out a deep breath before carefully sitting on the ground.

"Stage 1 of total protonic reversal. It discharged too early to reach stage 2."

"And what's stage 2?" Roger questioned.

"Well…" Leo looked around the destroyed chamber. "This place wouldn't be here. Everything within a hundred miles would be gone and anything past that will suffer from what would be like nuclear fallout."

"In a sense, it would be like Hiroshima right now."

"Yep…"

Everyone shutters. Thoughts of the blast compared to the last two times came running back with how big this one was. It took more for the dragons to think that such explosion was possible to be made by these eight humans before them. But they had to do a recount. There was only seven of them.

"Where's Derek?" Cynder asked with panic as the dominant thought. Everyone had thought that at any moment the human would suddenly pop up. But as time past their fears grew.

"Derek!" Leo yelled. Quickly bringing out his Pke meter.

"Derek!" Roger called dashing over to the center rock pile where he last saw his leader. Everyone, even those injured, scattered around the large mound shouting his name.

Even with a broken arm Leo jumped from rock to rock holding his meter with his good arm. Jumping over a slope he lands in a depression formed in the pile. He knew this was right where the portal was; rock must've fallen in some amount before it closed. He was the last one to bail when Derek told them. If memory served him correctly, and with the Pke going crazy as he was on target, he was standing right where Derek should be.

"Here!" He yells as everyone swarmed over. "His signals weak. Meter's putting the depth at least 23 feet." His face paled even through the dirt.

Without much thought, hands and claws quickly started the work of digging out his body. Deeply praying that he was still alive.

 _Dream Realm_

 _Derek's POV_

Holy crap… that hurt too much more than I expected.

And my eyes… good God how am I not blind by this job yet?

I tried to move, but my legs decided not to comply with my bodies command. I could feel my right arm, but my left felt like it wasn't there at all. My body honestly did feel like I was smashed under a giant rock.

Now I bet you're wondering; Derek, just get to the point. You're already breaking the fourth wall for what most would think will be the unteenth time now. Well I'll tell you why, because I want to, my body hurts and my ass itches really bad. And right now, I'm lying down on something unbelievably comfortable and definitely not with the others. I try moving, sitting up from the flat position I'm in. But my body refused to budge.

"Ah! You're finally awake." A voice said walking up from my left. When my eyes finally decided to open they were met with a orange light that a mass of candles could make.

Instead of walls of rock all I saw was the smooth grains of carved wood over top of me. There was a definite smell like someone using a high level of sweeteners that did help me forget of that god awful smell in the chamber. Using my good hand I try wiping the exhaustion from my eyes, the remembrance of the voice coming near instantly hit and I turned to my left.

"Hello again, Derek." The Chronicler said face to face with me.

"GAH!" I jumped from my position. Nearly falling off the side of whatever I was laying on that sent jolts of pain through my body.

Hopping to my feet I got into a defensive pose. That's when I realize I didn't have _any_ of my equipment. Pack, rifle, the only things left was my sensor equipment. But that wasn't anything compared to the pain that came back after my brief adrenaline rush. I felt my legs lock up like ice nearly making me fall over. Using what I could assume was a bed I bit my lip as I tried to support myself. When I actually got about halfway on it I looked back up to the dragon. I had to wipe my eyes to even think of how the gray dragon before me is now literally my size.

"Why are you so small?" I asked without much thinking. I could hear him chuckling in what I could tell was amusement.

"My young fellow, I have not changed. But you, on the other hand, have."

That's when being a smart guy I actually took into account my surroundings. I was in the same room me and my team had first arrived in the dragon world. But unlock before, everything seemed smaller. Even that caldera from last time look like it was a normal iron pot other than something the size of a house. And even things like the books that encircled us seemed bigger than the one Leo first had.

"* _Sigh*_ Please tell me I'm not dead."

"Afraid not. But you are currently buried under 18 tons of stone from destroying the mountain."

My jaw just dropped from that. "Well… that's just settling." I try pushing off the bed. Feeling some movement return to at least my right side.

"As to why you're my size," Chronicler continued. "I thought it would be more appropriate for us to conversate easier face to face other than having you nearly break your neck each time to speak."

Well thanks for that.

"So, next question." I finally get to my feet. "Why am I here?"

"Excellent question. Come." He turns around heading towards a large doorway on the other side of the room.

Looking at him then my leg, I just shrug and decide to wing it. Moving around the head of the bed I take a few steps away from the bed and let go. Not having fallen on my face yet, I slowly make my way over to where the dragon was waiting. Still feeling my entire left half of my body not the best. I wonder if this is what it was like when Peter Griffin got that stroke in a old Family Guy episode.

Once I was beside him, still feeling very uneasy about the height change. It was hard to think that a old dragon like him, probably the same size as Terrador who compared to us is huge. Then Spyro, Cynder, and every other dragon around their age was from our waist to maybe a head taller was okay to be around. But this, just wait until Leo hears about this.

"I do suppose you're wondering why I brought you here."

"Well that would be a good place to-" before I could finish I felt a way to heavy obect collide with my stomach. " _-start…'"_

It was a book. A big book compares to the ones on the shelves. But I didn't care about how big it was; not the design or text. But the symbol.

The Icarea Mandala symbol. The same one me and Leo made 3 years ago when I started getting control of my body again after getting over my possession.

"Where did you get this?" I asked dropping anything else.

"Remember when I said I keep track of everything." I nod. "I decided to gather information on you and your team to see if there was something l could help aid you with."

"Then why is it covered in ectoplasm?" I lifted my now sticky hand.

"That was something I was hoping to ask you. You see, when Ignitus found the book, it was heavily coated in black slime. We tried what we could but we has to result to a more practical means." he points over to a table in the corner. Sitting on top was the distinct green and gray body of the Mark 5 Slime Blower.

I go to ask where he got that, "Don't worry, I merely duplicated it. And I must say, while I know it's not your most advanced piece of technology it's quite impressive."

Damn right it's impressive. Took nearly 5 years to get right. And all it took was a oil company to spend about 30 million dollars on us. Good times.

"After we used the device and accessed the book, we… are terribly sorry." his voice lost that full of wisdom tone. Now in a more regretful area. If this book told our story, then he saw some unbelievable things.

"Don't be. That's our history and you didn't have anything to do with it. Its our fate we shaped, and were still going now."

Chronicler actually cracked a smile. I could tell just by the way he was that such a gesture was rare for even him. "Thank you. But back on topic, I've been heavily interested in this symbol." He flips the book back all the way to the cover.

"For the most time, it talks about you and your team investigating it heavily of how it connects to not only your world. But yet you know little to what its for."

 _*sigh*_ " In truth we barely know enough about it. We have theories, but no way to test them until now."

"How so?"

Bringing the book over to the table I broke out a blank piece of paper. Finding something to write with, a bottle of ink and a huge feather, I drew out the main rings. "From when I first got possessed, I had this voice and visions of this complex similar to what a gyrosphere is like. But when I first put it to paper it looked sorta like the 2009 video game mandala that went all across New York City. Thing was none of the nods matched up. So me and Leo for the time used what I saw to draw this." I step aside to show him the more advanced version. It was, if not better than the one before the Shandor event years ago.

"This was the design before our world faced its first major event; Ivo Shandor."

"During the time in the library, you spoke of him much."

"Indeed. When the others came, we started looking back into what the system was for." Turning back I began drawing in the other rings that made up the system. "Each world experienced the same Pke burst ours did before they entered our world with entities some God like came through. What I don't understand is why you want to know so much."

Chronicler didn't answer. Instead he turned around heading towards another door. He didn't show signs of turning back to me so instinct told just to follow. But I paused, looking back at the book before me.

Running a hand across the leather like cover, my mind drifted to what its pages held. Strangely some parts were mark with different metal. The covers held a bronze like shine with one page gold, another silver, one that I could tell was ruby red and another that was a deep neon purple. What secrets did it hold? If it told of the very moment we started busting, maybe even about the others worlds we got prepare even better than what he had during Infestation. We would have alerted nations, established teams of at least 20 on standby in every city to eliminate any chance something like that could happen again.

But, something told me not to. That I would find out what felt like sooner than later.

 _The Chamber_

 _No POV_

"I found him!" Cynder yelled throwing the remaining rock away. Leo and Rachel carefully descend the massive pit the group had dug just to reach him.

Clearing more ruble Derek's protonix pack, surprisingly still running with the revive system activated, came into view as his arms and legs started to get free. Using all her strength, Cynder pulled away the last chunk that pinned his right arm and head. She goes to move him but Rachel quickly stops her.

"Wait! He could have a broken back or neck. We need to be very careful." Looking at her friends almost dead like form spiralled on the ground. "Terrador, can you lift the ground underneath him a bit higher?"

"I'll try." Focusing his element through the piles of broken ground he looked down at Derek to carefully form a platform to raise the injured human.

When the ground started to rumble a little, everyone's breath caught in their throats making Terrador even more nervous. But once it reached a few inches, it soon easily slid out like a loose jenga block. Keeping his hardened focus, the platform lifts higher into the air out of the pit. Following his gaze as he brought it over to the clearing outside. Once it touched down with a heavy thud, everyone swarmed over to Derek's unconscious body.

Rachel and Cynder were the first to his side with the latter quickly holding her fingers to his neck.

"I got a pulse!" Her medical training kicked into full gear. Instantly she started removing anything that would hinder more damage to him. First starting with the protonix pack. Reaching down she goes to unclip the straps from the connection point on the frame.

"No, wait!" Leo yelled making her stop. Running down the mound with his arm flopping to the side he skids down beside her. "The pack might he the only thing keeping him alive at the moment. The shields must of taken the brunt of the blast and the pack itself prevented him from being completely crushed."

"So what do we do?" Cynder asked want to just rip it off him.

Leo with his good arm carefully reach behind Derek's neck hitting the revive switch. The pack let's out a deep groan like a load was just taken off it as all the lights flickered off at once. The power cells soon piled together with the monitor glowing signifying a complete system reboot. Once both run their start up cycles the cyclotron vents out for a moment before humming back to life. All 8 cores start growing in brightness as they cycle again.

Then, in a complete sign of utter relief, Derek took in a sharp breath as he coughed a few times.

"Now, carefully take off the pack. He might still have internal injuries." Heeding Leo's words Rachel reaches down popping the shoulder and kidney straps off. Taking the pack be its sides she lifts the 200 pound backpack (when powered fully like it is the weight drops to around 112 to 70 pounds. When in revive it becomes around 120 and complete power shut off will drop it to 200+. Those things aren't light you know.) off his back. Carefully pulling the equipment attached on said straps from under him as she finally got it off.

Pulling it over to the side, both she, Leo, Cynder and Spyro all took one side of his body and slowly turned him around. Once he was on his back, they finally got to see the extent of the damage. The entire front of his suit was badly scorched with some of the fabric that made up the jumpsuits burned away straight to the skin. The right side of his face was drenched in blood that at the angle he was made it seep over to the other side. His right arm was bent the wrong way with his hand still clenched tightly as if he still had his thrower in hand. His legs almost looked like pretzels with on top of the other in a worse pose. Blood spots were everywhere growing at a frightening rate.

"Oh My God…" Rachel brought her hands to her mouth. Tears nearly breeching past her eyes. The rest of the team soon gathered around their broken leader fearing getting to close would cause him to just jump up like a Walker and attack them.

The dragons were actually speechless. There eyes scanned over the encircled team. Shock turned into disbelief that what had just happened; that these 8 beings, despite what they've seen since the beginning, had survived a battle with Malefor and an explosion that they felt could rival the belt of fire.

"It's not the worst he's been through." All their eyes fell onto Leo. The scientist knowing what their reactions would be slowly turned to face them. "After his possession and Infestation, he's gotten pretty beaten up before. At of these bow three times this would possibly rank as number 2."

Shock retook their minds. Paling at the thought of what he, and even the others had gone through before even coming to their world.

Volteer and Cyril both looked to Terrador. Wanting to know what they should do now. Looking to his comrades, then down to Spyro and Cynder who were both trying to tend to Derek's injured form. "Let's go… we've done what we can here today." His eyes fell upon the broken team. "For now we need to rest for I doubt this will be the last time we see of Malefor."

Lowering their wings so that the team could climb up, while needing the guardians to push them the final length up they all sat as comfortably as possible.

Spyro at the moment help against Derek's position on Cynder's back having his arms tied around the base of her neck. Leo insisted on taking the proton pack but Spyro had already slung the device over his back. Grunting from the additional 200 pounds h looks back to everyone.

"We set?" Everyone nods. "Let's go home." Having to put a little more power to his wings Spyro lifted off the ground. Twisting his body he steadily climbs through the air to the open hole. Cynder follows close by with much swifter movements. Wanting to get Derek to Crystalline as soon as possible. The guardians all took a massive leap forward gliding upwards before giving a few good flaps to exit the chamber.

Once they finally broke from the stone, their eyes all focused on the direction back towards Crystalline. Thanking God and Ancestors that this was over for now.

* * *

Did think I should of combined the last chapter with this but it didn't feel right to me and I wanted to finish with a good 25.

The case of this chapter was to show the after effects of what can happen when the Protonix Ghostbusters would do what would be the second to last case scenario of crossing the streams. Unlike other teams where it can either completely destroy the bad guy or not do anything fully refers to why the team was more focused on capturing Malefor other than imprisoning or destroying him. As to why Derek's with the Chronicler isn't because he's dead, it's just to move on what's to be seen later.

So with the bases of everything in this story technically covered, I can now progress into new territory and history for the team while working mos now on get Broken Reality going more.

Until next time in Arc 2: Ghosts and Dragons


	26. Arc-2 We Screwed Up

Chapter 26: We Screwed Up

Arc 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

Merry Christmas!

Wanted to post _something_ before 2016 ended. And why not with something I've been working on since February. Though I won't be coming fully back to this story just yet because I haven't finished getting to the stopping point on Broken Reality and am quite surprised at the level of activity this is getting.

So the more progressive and unbelievable part of the story starts here. This chapter will contain: possible spoilers to Broken Reality, past events in high detail, and connections to the Skylanders game. (Because of how Spyro is linked in the series and how this series works, I'm think of a possible spin off in the future. The _Distant_ future. The start of shipping, events that right now don't make sense, and some other things to come.

After this the guardians will be let go off, since this was merely to show what they will come to be of the team.l and will focus more on the legendaries and team. On a side note, since most Spyro stories and crossovers involving humans tend to be that dragons are all out bloody at them, that too will come later and explain why everyone was so adapted to the Ghostbusters being here.

* * *

Defeated.

That's the one word someone could use to describe the Protonix Ghostbusters at this moment.

If you didn't see the slight movement of their heads or bodies when readjusting their position, one would saw they were lifeless.

The flight back to Crystalline was considerably slower this time; the guardians trying to take it easy for the passengers on their backs while hurrying to their destination. Everyone was in pain; some had fallen unconscious and needed anyone still awake to keep them from falling off.

At the head of the group, Cynder glided effortlessly through the air with her wings stretched out to their fullest. Using small bursts of her Wind, she acted more like a person in a skydiving suit. But every time she had to make a quick change Derek would let out a deep, painful groan just inches away from her ear. Wincing and glancing back every few moments to make sure he was still holding on her. For Spyro on the other hand, he was struggling to not drop out of the sky like a fly with the weight of a turned off protonix pack on his back, that when he grabbed one to Derek when escaping the sewers was actually lighter.

But nevertheless, he stayed strong. "How is he?" he asked for what was the fourth time. Looking to the human his mind had wondered if they did finish Malefor off. That blast with what they do should currently do the job. But even they knew it wasn't always the case.

Craning her head back Cynder's right eye glanced down to Derek. "Still out cold. Though I'm a bit more worried about Malefor. That portal suddenly pops up right when he knew he was gonna lose. And when he mentioned another world; did you see how the Ghostbusters reacted?"

Spyro nodded. He did see how they all looked afraid that it might involve them. From what they've already been through, he would think they would do anything to prevent a third time. And he wasn't alone on this case. The guardians overheard the conversation and was thinking the same.

A couple of minutes later, the outskirts of Crystalline was seen in the distance. The massive purple bubble being created by the team's Pke disrupters made them hold their breath, hoping the city wasn't to greatly affected by the blast that could've just as easily blown it to dust. But signs of activity and be buildings still standing made the guardians relax some. Happy that there was hopefully no more loss of life. Starting their descent colorful spots came up from in between the buildings just at the end of the cleared plains.

When a guard yelled out something was approaching from the mountains, the city's defenses went up immediately. Redstone and Wave were the first to arrive at the head of a makeshift barricade waiting for what was coming. But when Redstone looked closer with his aged eyes, he could see the distinct colors of green, yellow and blue lowering to the ground.

"Terrador!" The king yelled up to the dragon as he gave a few more flaps to hover in place for a moment.

"Redstone." Terrador greeted as he landed along with the others.

"Thank Ancestors you all are alright. We saw, even felt the explosion from here. It must of been a grand battle in there."

"Indeed it was." Cyril responded with exhaustion in his voice. "Though it wasn't quite what we or the others expected from the Dark Lord. Even the Ghostbusters were surprised."

"Where are they?" He asked looking at their feet as if the team would suddenly walk out. "I thought they would have returned with you."

"They did." Cynder walked up closer to the fire dragon.

Redstone took a step back, still not trusting being so close to the ex terror. But when she turned sideways, his eyes fell onto the unconscious leader of the Ghostbusters. That wasn't what surprised him. When the guardians step up and moved their heads to the side to show the others, the dragons were jaw slacked at the desolate state they were in.

Wave stepped closer to examine the humans. "What happened to them?"

"That is a story for another time. Right now the they need medical attention." Spyro answered.

"Come to the palace. Our doctors shall check over them and yourselves." Redstone turned and started back into the city. Looking at each other for a moment the five dragons followed closely behind.

* * *

"Why is my firehouse in here?"

Really. When I left with Chronicler the first thing I saw in the next room sitting on the table was what looked like a scale model of our fire station looking like it wasn't complete yet.

"Oh that," Ignitus came in. "It's something we've been working on since we discovered the book. Being that our knowledge of the…" he tried thinking of what to say.

"Paranormal?"

"Yes, that. It's where we even got these." He stepped aside to show a twin pile of perfectly symmetrical book stacks about 10 feet tall each. Their backs all facing out to show their titles that if you weren't someone like me, anyone on my team, or a believer in things most say are not real, wouldn't understand.

"Well… since we're on that topic again. Why am I here exactly. And don't sugar coat it, much."

"Malefor isn't defeated." Chronicler bluntly said that I'm pretty sure if Spyro was here he would have a heart attack.

"And?" My question seemed to confuse them. "I know Malefor isn't dead, again, or trapped. He just got shot back into a ghost world through a portal." This honest stunned the two dragons.

"How can you be so certain?" Ignitus asked now the more questioning type.

"For several reasons actually. First is how black slime, black ecto and pk energy works. This was what me and Leo had asked the originals about Gozer the gozarian. The first time they fought him, they crossed the streams to close the portal feeding his power and ended up blowing him up. Seven years later, he comes back weaker but yet just as powerful. It's from this that we theorised the spiritual essence of the being could be destroyed in one plain of existence. But yet still exist and return in another."

"But Malefor was alive during his time here. He grew in age and was trapped for a thousand years."

"Again, no villain stays imprisoned forever. They _always_ find a way out. And thus is the second reason, Black Ecto or from what this world knows it as, Convexity. It's the negative side of the world that is between life and death. This is usually why ghosts, even if they're holy souls, are either trapped in a loop or their world of origin. Malefor had control of this when he was alive, Right?" They both nodded.

"So with that his body became more like a living ghost; Then Spyro and Cynder defeated him. Much like what the originals did, they closed the portal and destroyed his form. But they said he was dragged by the spirits of the ancestors. So Malefor's body was destroyed, not his spirit. And as a true ghost he could easily collect much more energy than what his physical embodiment could."

"That must be why he couldn't handle the backlash." Chronicler cut in. "We saw the battle and how your equipment drained him but he replaced it. When it came back, he couldn't hold it."

"Exactly. And he knew that right there and then. That's why he opened the portal when we crossed the streams by accident. His physical body would be destroyed again when he wasn't crossed over fully. He's probably waiting in the other world gaining power from the black slime as we speak."

Never have I seen a dragon become so slack jawed. Let alone two of them at once. Did they really not know anything about stuff like this? I didn't have to wait long for a answer. For the mirror across the room began to glow in a wave of purple and blue light as the center collapsed back like a vortex. Instincts from the last time kicked in moments as I tried to find anything to fight or defend with. Then I remembered, the Slime Blower.

Dashing into the other room where I last saw it, still in the same spot on the floor; I grabbed the straps and pulled the massive tank on my back. Unlike proton packs the blowers were considerably bigger and usually required two people to put it on. Setting it on the table where the book was I tightened the vest over my torso and grabbed the blower nozzle. When I got back into the main room the portal had changed into a whitish color with a growing at the center.

Neither Chronicler or Ignitus seemed worried and just stood there waiting. When I saw the mass of energy directly in the middle growing in size I prepared the system and put the force on max.

"Wait." Chronicler moved his blue wing in front of me. Blocking my aim. I try moving around to fire but was stopped when the energy mass exited the portal. Only it wasn't like that at all, nor a ghost or creature of the unknown.

It was a man. A human man.

They looked pretty much like someone in their 70s with a long gray beard ending near their chest. A white rob laced with blue and gold trim covered his body with from what I could tell was ten different symbols. Some I could tell represented elements. Water, fire, air and earth but there were some I didn't understand the remote meaning of. In his hand was a long stave made from a fine wood. And what was with that helmet? It literally made him look like a blue chrome dome.

On top of the staff was multicolor orb that seemed to pulse rapidly before the portal behind him returned to its mirror state.

"Well, it's about time you showed up." Ignitus said displeased by the man's presence.

"Apologies. But it's been hard lately dealing with trolls, grubins and an army of darkness knocking on your front door every three days." When his attention turned to me, I brought up the blower to his level with my thumb itching to hit the trigger.

But he didn't seem fazed by my appearance of the weapon pointing at him. If anything, he was actually shocked when our eyes met. They darted from my face, blower, body and back to my eyes like he never saw a human before.

"By Gods…" he said in disbelief. "A Portal Master!"

A What?

Was this guy high on something or did that portal he came through did something to his brain. I would have to ask later but right now I needed a few answers. "Who the hell are you?" I asked maybe a bit to harshly than I would've wanted it. But in times like these it's best to assert yourself.

The old man snaps out of his thoughts when he clears his throat loudly. Stepping closer to me as his grin didn't change at all.

"I am Master Eon. A portal master of the realms."

* * *

"EASY, EASY!" Rachel yelled as they dropped Derek's body on the unbelievably large bed. Pulling with as much care as possible, the still standing busters and dragons carefully brought Derek to the center of the bed.

With his pack and suit now sitting on the floor next to him, the damage of his injuries could be seen by the light blue undershirt he wore with his work pants having multiple red spots. Pulling the knife from his suit's' pockets Rachel carefully hooks his shirt ripping it upwards. Revealing the large ray of burns and cuts that went through the protective clothing.

"Jack, can you take the pack and his suit to the truck. And can you bring me my med kit?" Rachel asked looking over her shoulder.

"No problem." Stepping around he swings the huffty particle accelerator on his back. Nearly falling to the ground from the weight that Derek was more use to carrying. Kneeling down he grabbed the charred remains if his leader's quite possibly favorite jumpsuit before heading out the door.

Just then both Spyro and Cynder came in with another dragon; a female ice dragon that was practically the color swap of Cyril but was much more smoother in the way her scales were. On her back was a basket filled with a variety of medical supplies while the legendaries carried two baskets of glowing green crystals.

"How is he?" The ice dragon asked with a mix of a Scottish and French accent.

"He has several first degree burns in some areas of his chest and legs. A busted femur with a shattered knee. His arm was dislocated until Mike and Danny popped it back into place." At the soound of their names the two men gave a high five to each other. "But he has multiple torn muscles, can say for sure if a fractured wrist but I can't say a broken arm without any equipment to look over him more thoroughly."

The dragoness was quite surprised at Rachel's overall assumption of the other's condition. The medical staff were told that the team did have a doctor with them; but they didn't know of how high equality.

Upon arriving at the palace the group were sent straight to the medical ward to be checked. The Guardians passing by with exhaustion and the legends just needing a few crystals to refill their power. But the humans weren't as lucky. Ben was the second to worse condition out of the group having to be dipped in a catalyzing paste before his cuts could be treated. Leo was taken somewhere to have his broken arm attended to and both Jack and Roger had their cuts attended to. Both Jack and Rachel however had to wear a metal boot that for the latter covered up to his knee and the other like a oversized shoe. The doctors tried making them stay but their worry was focused to the first buster in their group.

The dragons, standing in the opposite side of the bed across from the team, looked down at Derek's battered form. His head resting at a unsettling angle in their direction. His mouth hung open as if trying to speak.

"Will he be alright?" Cynder asked with heavy concern.

"He's been through worse." Everyone turned to see Leo standing in the doorway. His jumpsuit tied halfway around his waist as his left arm was tightly secured in a brace. "How is he?"

"Stabile as is but he won't be doing much once he wakes up." Rachel said not turning away from Derek as she was bandaging around the gash on his head. The dragon nurse sitting across from her applying the same green speckled paste that Ben was dipped in on his burns.

Hearing the clicking of boots approaching she glanced over her shoulder to see him standing near the edge of the bed looking over his best friend.

"He looks like Hell." He bluntly said. Shaking his at the thought of what drove Derek to not even duck for some form of cover. He was still more or less surprised he survived a stream backlash that powerful with that much energy so close; he could of easily of been neutralized.

"Where's Jack?"

Rachel responded, "Trailer. Putting stuff away and getting my kit." At that Leo immediately turned around and made a hasty retreat to the door. "You're supposed to be resting." she shouted making him stop.

"I know. But right now a broken arm can wait. I need to get all of our equipment back to 100% working order and hopefully rebuild the only trap we still have. Cause knowing how these situations play out; we're gonna need to be ready at a moment's notice."

Everyone nodded in agreement to his statement. Seeing them satisfied Leo turned back and disappeared into the hallway.

"I guess that goes for all of us." Mike said turning towards the door. "With Malefor fully aware of us now I doubt he'll wait long to make his next move."

 _Meanwhile, In the Dining Room..._

On the other side of the 'castle', the Guardians, Redstone, Wave and Hunter all sat at the table discussing important matters.

"So the Dark Master still lives?" Redstone asked with a heavy voice.

Terrador nodded. "Even the Ghostbusters were unprepared for the sheer amount of power he had at the time. They had taken a huge chunk of his energy in their trap but it couldn't hold it. It was destroyed and released back but he had already regenerated the same amount back. It stands clear that his control over the dark forces, and now, Black Slime, has heavily fuelled him to a greater state than before."

"Is there still a way to stop him?" Hunter asked. "Spyro and Cynder were capable of doing so before. Surely now that their powers have grown they could do it again."

Cyril protested. "Even now we can't just… _throw_ them at Malefor and his forces. If either of them were touched by the slime they would easily fall to its negative effects."

* _Sigh*_ "Than what can we do? As is our forces are little to nothing when it comes to fighting spirits. And the fact that they now have a road leading straight to my city's front door." Redstone pondered with a claw over his eyes in frustration.

"At best," Terrador paused thinking if what to say. "I would suggest you and your citizens come to Warfang where we can be more united in strength. But knowing you, I doubt that would a option."

"I won't abandon my city. If those who wish to go to Warfang want to, than they can. I won't risk innocent lives."

Terrador continued, "Furthermore it would put us all closer to the Ghostbusters. They're our best line of defense against anything the slime puts out and most likely the only ones who could truly defeat Malefor."

"What about Malefor?" Spyro asked walking into the room. Everyone instantly tensed up at how they practically shot him and Cynder out of the conversation.

"Just debating on how to possibly handle the situation." Volteer said hoping to avoid a painful explanation. "Speaking as such how are the Ghostbusters fairing?"

"Well, Derek's getting healed up by Rachel and Frost right now. Two of them are still out cold in the infirmary and everyone else is either resting for working on their gear."

"That remind me." Wave spook up. "If the _humans_ are suppose to aid us, how come you don't have any command over them?" He points to the three Guardians.

"From how they operate is completely unjust and wild letting them do what they seem they can."

"Because," Terrador said putting some back up in his words. "They were sent here requested by the Chronicler himself to help us. And from what we've seen in the past month is that the formula they have been using when it comes to fighting is perfect in their own way. We ask for their aid and they ask for ours. All they've asked so far is a place to stay, food, and knowledge and have greatly help defend our city when none of us even slightly what to do."

The room fell a eerie silence after the statement. Though this did start raising concerns regarding the team.

"Spyro," the purple dragon looked up to the green and brown drake. "Go get some rest. We'll leave to Warfang in 4 days." Nodding the dragon turns back to the doorway he came from. Rising from their sets all the guardians bowed their heads before following close behind.

 _On the other side of the Building..._

Applying the last of the crystal past on Derek's leg, Frost stepped back to check over their handy work.

"That should do it for now. Since we do not know how it's properties fully affect humans it maybe some time before he fully recovers." She glanced down to Rachel who sat halfway on the bed stroking his hand.

"You care about him much; do you not?"

"It's something we've technically had since we were little. It wasn't until all… _this._ " She gestured to herself, the dragons and team. "Happy did it really kick off from there. We've all been in hard times together and yet he's surprisingly manage to hold it together."

Frost let out a little chuckle at knowing what she meant. Moving over off the foot of the bed packing what materials were left after patching Derek up. As she did so, in the corner of her eye she watched as Rachel heavily rubbed her eyes. Up close or from this distance she could see the bangs hanging from her eyes.

"You should get rest. Your friend will be fine." Frost said walking past the medic. Rachel wanted to counter her remark but a yawn blocked out any words.

"Rachel." her gaze shifted to the black dragoness across from her. "I can watch over him if you want. It's not like I got anywhere to be and you do need to some energy back."

Raising a finger she tried to say other wise; but cuts it short. Sighing in exhaustion she reached down to a pouch on her belt. Pulling off the cover she brings out a small orange radio.

"Call if anything happens." Cynder nodded as the buster swiftly turned on her good foot. Practically running out the door as her arms stretched out to close them behind her.

Cynder couldn't help but chuckle at the other female's actions. It was still amusing these humans were to her. Reaching over she grabs the radio, which is so small her whole hand can cover it, she places it behind Derek on the massive pile of pillows just enough for it to stay. Giving a good flap of her wings she left her back half up on the bedside. Slowly circling around in the same spot like an animal getting their spot comfy, she stretches out her body and plants it directly neck to Derek's right side.

Truth was that she was beat tired and could go for five years with just sleep right now.

Twisting for a moment so that her claws were in decent positions, she extended her right wing out and over Derek's body like another blanket. Curling around his side to make she it would stay and come as much of him as it possibly could. Glancing over to make sure he was still fine, Cynder let out a rare smile as she rested her head down on the pillow mountain. Minding Derek's head with her many horns as she let sleep blanket her now.

* * *

"A what?" I asked lowering the blower. The way the old man said that _really_ pushing several scenarios to the front of mind.

"I thought you never had contact with humans?" I asked looking over to the Chronicler.

"I never said that. All I said was that I never made contact outside the realms your world is not included."

Okay I'll give him that one...

Looking back to 'Eon' he still had that astonished grin as he still looked at me with gleam. He had stepped closer to me and I was starting to feel uneasy around this guy. But I wasn't that level of a prick.

"Uh… I'm Derek Stewart." I said holding my right hand out. Still keeping my left on the blower handle. Eon must of snapped out of his gaze because his hand instantly clamped onto mine.

I felt his hand squeeze mine twice as he eyed me more focused. "Young, has a strong grip, clear sign of past battles under his belt… perfect! I'll start teaching him as soon as possible."

I instantly jumped back. "Woah, woah, woah wait a minute. This _wasn't_ part of the agreement." I yelled to the dragons. Both looked at Eon with both shaking their heads in disappointment.

"Eon," Chronicler said to the old man directly, "Derek here is who we asked to help solve our problem that's now going into darker territory that we never seen before. He and his team have a duty, and they are greatly needed in Avalar."

* _Sigh*_ "I knew it was too good to be true. But I do hope that we can use their aid in Skylands if they can spare the time.

"Skylands? Sounds like something from a video game." I chuckled thinking of a giant piece of land literally floating in the clouds.

"Skylands is one of the realms that borders Avalar. It wasn't effected from the great war and served as a safe zone for those who couldn't fight. Though parts of Malefor's army was sent there to kill as many as possible." Why is it that everything the Chronicler, Guardians, Spyro, hell even Sparx leads to something that I had a feeling we'll end up getting into a situation involving something bad.

* * *

So Arc Two is now under way. I hope to work this alongside with the last of Broken Reality and by the end of this arc set to work on the second story in the timeline, Shadows of the Past. I will hopefully soon have my FnaF and Jurassic World stories done so that I can post and work on some more projects.

The next part is actually something this story might only have, and that is _what_ happened during Derek's demonic possession in Shadows; that in the story does not fully have. (Because of how everything is told in third person most of the time, the next chapter in this and the other story would really make sense if it was seen from a sudden POV change.)

Like anything in these kind of stories the team's looks will change some. That being said jumpsuit identification.

Derek will still have his dark blue with black patching.

Rachel with a faded Indigo with orange patching. (Kinda like the Real Ghostbusters Egon)

Leo will have a navy black suit (GB2 style) with red patching.

Roger with a Reboot style suit with the orange strips with a extra line of red

Jack with a default original.

Danny and Ben both wearing a dark gray with Danny having blue patches and Ben with black.

And Mike with a all navy blue suit.

And I've almost reached a new milestone of 160,000 words. Definitely gonna break 200k+ by the time Arc 3 comes.


	27. When the Lights Go Out

Chapter 27: When the Lights Go Out

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

Happy Valentine's Day. Figure to post this on either today or this stories anniversary. This chapter is a bit on the small side but I may add on from next chapter later.

No this story's not dead. I've just been busy working on Broken Reality since this story didn't have its Universe/Timeline properly situated.

* * *

 _Ecto-7 Mobile Research Laboratory_

Sitting at his spot in front of a desk full of computers, Jack was busy running different formulas and equations into any possible way they could get more room in any of their traps. With the Disrupters still on full strength covering the city, only about 7% of the Pke energy inside the containment unit was dissipated. It still had another 13 to go before they could empty a Sabar or Wireless Trap to at least half capacity. And then they would have a way to do small scale captures. Though because of so much power in the unit, the capture rate would be 60 times greater than an empty unit.

Behind him at the kitchen table Leo was nose deep in trying to get the Mega Trap rebuilt. His mind was still in surprised that this new enemy, Malefor, could manifest so much energy so fast that the trap overloaded. Even when they simultaneously captured Rowan and Stay Puft (Read: Ghost Lord for better explanation. When it comes out. ), The trap was only at 45% capacity and last all the way to the end.

But this made him really think. The situation was already surpassing Shandor and dangerously approaching Infestation levels. It took years for that to happen in our world. But with being here for only 4 weeks with this level of activity was startling.

And that was one thing he needed to make sure of; that everything was in full working order. Said could be used for Derek's protonix pack sitting next to him with every moving piece of the pack in the 'open' position. A long cable running from a laptop to the pack's monitor fed data between the devices. The pack itself was structurally damaged; a few burnt wires and chipped spots in the shell but thankfully the internal parts were still functional.

"I swear we need to upgrade to a mix metal that's stronger than this…" he said as he pulled out a Matter Gun tool kit. A glue gun like dispenser that's crossed over with a welding rod that instead pours out mix metal from a solid rod the size of a can. It was the go to repair for when any of the equipment is damaged and they're away from the firehouse to fix it.

As he started to get to patching up the pack, he failed to realize his Pke suddenly flash on changing into its red display before shutting off before it could make a sound. Silently rebooting otself as it went back yo standard green

 _Later...With the Others…_

Sitting all together in a small gathering room the rest of the team was getting much needed R&R. Danny and Mike both laid on a massive couch with just a inch gap from where their feet could touch. Oddly enough letting out a slight snore that when one died down the other immediately picked back up on.

Rachel was hunched over checking on Roger for anything the dragons did and didn't miss when the checked him. Being the medic she had the final say on if anyone on the team was healthy enough to continue duty.

And Leo for the moment was standing at a table with tools and parts from the trailer scattered everywhere around the damaged form of the mega trap. Deciding to move indoors to be wity the group. His eyes would dart between the blue print and wire graph from when they first built it to each piece he disassembled. So far he found each of the Ion Cells, the things used to cycle a entity's energy through the dampeners had all overloaded from sheer power alone. And the coils along the inside had all melted together. Leo just set the paper down on the table as he sighed deeply.

As it was these parts weren't hard to replace. Like anything they stock up in bulk to make sure _everything_ worked, was updated and primed for us. Even their older traps were still in use after a few upgrades. Providing they had dozens of them to use. But being suddenly taken to another world means that whatever they had was what they had. Unless they wanted to try and start the industrial revolution a couple centuries early on a magical world currently in the mits of a supernatural war.

"So how's it coming." Rachel said walking up as she closed up her med kit.

Leo sighed again before looking over the table's contents again. "Right now I really don't know. Everything here we had at the firehouse but now we barely have scrap to us. Even if I could get this thing working again… it'll be useless against Makefor."

For a heavy moment they both stayed silent. It was like the times just before the 'catastrophic event' would show its ugly face.

"You think we still have a chance to come out on top of this?"

"I don't know right now. There's still too many holes in this story that the only way we can finish it is if we follow with time and see what's next. Hopefully it'll be somewhat smooth sailing for a bit."

Rachel nodded slowly. Having a decent sized break in all this chaos would be great welcomed by not just them. It would give everyone, especially Derek, time to recover and for them to formulate a long term plan. But just thinking of Derek in his broken state was enough to cause her to shudder if just stepping into ice water.

"You alright?" Leo asked analyzing his friend's sudden change.

"Yeah… I just got a feeling about something…"

 _Meanwhile…_

From last time to now, Cynder was enjoying the peaceful moment that they got after fighting for weeks on end. But while that wasn't really the case, being the Ghostbusters doing most of the work in capture or destroying enemies, the dragons had more or less stayed on the side lines to aid when needed. Mostly Derek needing a lightning bolt from Spyro to get a little more power.

She still couldn't get over the fact at how they acted when facing monsters like that. These were meant to be creatures Malefor wanted to scar the land with and each time the team mowed them down like mound of dust to a tornado.

It just wouldn't stand.

Now after what she knew had been just a hour of rest, her emerald eyes slowly cracked open to adjust to the dim candlelight of the bedroom. She looked around before having her mind be rebooted to where she was and why. And it honestly brought a blush to her dark features. Derek laid in the same position as he was just before. His slowly breathing was the only real sign of life from him as his body was like stone.

Bringing a free claw up from underneath, Cynder carefully brought up her head. Twisting her body up to get proper support. After a few turns, she carefully lowered her head again. But this time a bit closer to the human than that someone would say is reasonable and what Rachel thought would be the kill zone. The curve from the tip of her snout up to the base of the symbol on her head was pressed up against the side of Derek's head with the edge of her horns grazing his hair. The once free claw had found occupation with his arm as it wrapped over and pulled it closer to her magenta colored underbody.

One would ask; 'what the hell are you doing, Cynder?'. And that very thought ran through the black dragoness's mind when she first hopped on the bed. She wasn't one to easily make or tell into what one would see if they stepped through the door, but to her it felt right for a reason that felt just.

Then a memory, back years ago in the mountain when the whole place was coming down. Spyro gathering her and Sparx to protect them from a too early death. That feeling of protection was running through her mind. It was weird for a dragon like her to think or feel this. Being protective and concerned about something she didn't fully know from another world that looked so close like their former enemies.

But Derek wasn't the enemy. Neither Leo, Rachel or any of the Ghostbusters. And so long as they protect Avalar, Avalar would protect them. And that's exactly what Cynder would do with this human in these bleak times. With a satisfied sigh her eyes drifted back closed as slumber took back over. But the dragoness didn't fully fall asleep until nearly her whole body was pressed up against his as her internal fire kept both warm.

…

…

…

She couldn't sleep now. She didn't know why. But she just couldn't.

"Great…" she muttered softly. Trying not to say it directly in the human's ear. "First real night of any sleep and can't fall asleep."

Reluctantly she rolled away from her warm spot. Removing her claw from the arm and the wing draped over the human. Rolling off the bedside so that all her claws landed on the ground. Stretching both wings out as her body bent down like a cat would. Feeling a few joints pop she lets out a deep sigh as she looked around the room.

A door in the opposite wall caught her interest. She was a bit surprised she didn't notice it before. But had the excuse that it did blend in perfectly well hidden with the design of the wall.

' _Weird… why would they hide the door like that?'_

Slowly approaching the door she stopped half way between it and the bed taking a glance back at Derek. Bitting her inner lip as she remembered to watch over him.

' _Ahh… it's just for a minute. Its not like anything bad could happen.'_

At the she crossed over to the other side. (lel) Leaning up on her hind legs and used her body weight to press open the door. Sun light flooded into the room as Cynder felt it's rays of warmth cover over her black scales and megenta underbelly. Taking a deep breath of the fresh air she steps out onto a small balcony that was one of several that dotted Redstone's castle.

But unknown to her, the other Ghostbusters, or anyone for that matter, was the strange mass that Rachel and the Pke meter felt was slowly seeping out from under the door. A black liquid falling from the door handles down the split and joins the growing puddle. Once a 5 foot wide pool of the liquid was formed; the substance began to bubble as if boiling in a pot. The very center begins to rise in height as the liquid warps into a more solid form.

Soon the outline of a man standing easily 7 feet tall makes it's way over to the bed. Its conjoined legs that still connected to the base glides over the hard floor as it made no noise to alert the black dragon of it's presence. After crossing the gap in just moments, it's height begins growing larger as it's arms stretched outward. Grabbing the heavy sheets as it dragged it's torso up and over the edge. Its head becomes parallel with Derek's as the rest of its body started to hover over his. Leaning closer its claw like hands grab onto his wrists. Easily getting a grip as it turned itself straight up. It's head over his chest as in one fluent move, it dives like a swimmer into his chest. The entire black mass disappearing into his chest as vanished like it was Never there to begin with.

After waiting long enough, Cynder strolled back into the room. Feeling a bit more relaxed than a few moments ago.

"Maybe I am losing it again." She said to herself as he made her way to the bed. Flapping her wings once to easily get on top. "I mean, me just sitting here talking to myself while away from the others really does crazy things to you. Right Derek?" She slightly tapes her claw/fist against his arm. Minding not to try and cause further damage.

She lets out a small chuckle before curling back in her previous position. Feeling her body a lot more relaxed as she left what sleep could take her.

But little did she figure, that her slight motion caused Derek to stir from his slumber. His body jolting causes his arm to jab onto Cynder's stomach slightly. Cracking an eye open she looked down at the human. "Derek?" She asked but got no response.

His body moved again. Just like of one was trying to get in a suitable spot to sleep in. But yet he didn't seem like he was asleep.

"Derek? Are you okay?" she shook his arm gently.

Still no response, she steps up her measures. Grabbing the top of the blanket and yanks it down to his waist. When she stopped pulling; her eyes bulged out as the breath in her became ice and dropped the sheet. Derek's once injure ridden body was completely clean of the burns or cuts he got from before. The only thing that remained was long, thin black lines that crisscrossed all over him with the place above his heart seemingly moving separately to his breathig. Cynder's eyes scanned over him. Looking for anyway his body could possibly have heal just so quickly. Dashing around the bed to the table on the other side she snatches the radio of the stand and frantically begins trying to make a call.

"Come on… Come on…" she said trying to figure out to turn it on. Once she felt her claw hook on a button and hear a click she let out a victorious smirk. "Rachel, is anybody there? This is Cynder!" she shouted into the radio.

" _Rachel here, What's up Cynder?"_

"Its Derek. He's-" when she turned back she felt her whole body turn to stone. Derek's head was turned in her direction with his eyes gazing into hers. Only they weren't they usual brown eyes everyone knew. They were now a bright violet purple with his irises a lighter shade of pink.

"Rachel, get here with one of your packs right now. And Fast."

" _Why? What's happen-"_ before Rachel could finish the radio was yanked free from Cynder's grasp. The device sores through the air before colliding with the far wall. Shattering in small plastic pieces as it rained over the floor.

Jerking his head back his eyes shut tightly as a sudden groan escapes him. Cynder attempts to jump up and help, but stops mid stride when the entire bed _cracks_ out from underneath the human. The frame becomes like ballsa wood and the soft cushion that made the 'bed' becomes like a deflated balloon. Only Derek didn't fall with it; his body remaind perfectly straight _hovering_ 4 feet above the covers. His eyes snapped open; the purple coloration now giving off a bright glow that even reached the ceiling. His body jerks sharply as if stung by a poisoned weapon. His legs kicking as if trying to stay above water as his head lashed right and left.

Cynder stayed where she was. Too transfixed on whatever was happening to Derek. In one lash out she could barely get a glimpse of his eyes. Showing both darkness consuming him and the fight he was trying to out up. It looked just like what happened in the core or with Spyro in the mountain.

"Cynder!" Rachel yelled as she barged down the door with her proton gun in hand. The others quickly following behind as they all circled around to see what was happening.

"What's happening?!" The dragoness yelled behind her as the thrashing got worse. In seconds the bed itself snaps each of its four posts and falls to the ground.

Leo quickly pulls out his Pke meter. The antennas skyrocket upward as the on screen graph goes haywire. "His energy level is going crazy. We need to lower it before-" Then like a the wind sniffing out a candle, everything became shrouded in darkness.

* * *

As several sets of groans echoed through out the empty space if a black void, the group sluggishly arose to their feet.

" _ugg_ … what happened?" Mike said rubbing his head. Looking around the dark area for any sign of a answer.

Instinctively Rachel picks up her thrower from off the ground and aims in any direction she thinks literally anything could come from. The others quickly moving close by in case that is the situation. Being to always have his meter on him, Leo pulled the device back up doing a quick reboot. Once done, the two wing rods connected to the antenna instantly go straight up flashing a white color.

"Getting massive spikes but unlike anything I've seen. It's like we're stuck in a pulsing wave."

Rachel asked, "And where are we and how?"

"It was Derek." Cynder said making everyone turn to her. "I didn't see it but something happened to him. He was completely healed and when I was calling you guys his eyes were a mix purple color and he just threw the radio across the room."

She watched as the 4 Ghostbusters all looked to each other with concern. Especially Leo and Rachel. Both showed a level of fear for Derek that Cynder could easily pick up through her own element. She could sense it through all four of them; but yet being in this weird place made her feel the back of her head throb. As if saying she was missing something.

"So how do we get out of here?" Danny asked. And as if almost a on demand answer, a flicker of light catches everyone's attention as a crack seemed to form out of nowhere and quickly widen in size. It gave off a vibrant white color with a hint of blue purple on its surface as what could be described as images seemed to move like blobs in it.

"Portal?" Rachel asked switching her pack to slime blower.

Leo walks ahead until he was just feet away from it. Waving the meter above it as the wings feel to almost at a 45 degree angle.

"Not entirely sure. This is definitely different than anything we've come in contact with. And the energy output is very different. It's more like a tear in space than a opening."

'In other words it's not a portal, but more like a window.' Cynder thought. Not knowing why he didn't just say that. Though as she got closer to the 'window' her focus was on the strange images moving randomly all over

" _You know, he has told me much about you and your achievements…"_ a aged voice said.

Instantly Cynder took a large step back extremely startled by the sudden voice. Hearing the voice everyone inched closer as the image became even more defined. Swirling in spots if you were to drain your tub as it formed four clear figures. Two were easily more bipedal. A white figure stood a good distance away from the three others as one blue and gray being stood in front of two large orange and gray masses.

"Well what is it?" Danny immaturely asked. Earning a jab in the gut from Mike.

"Watch and you might learn something."

Doing as told they focus back to the scene before them.

" _Yeah, these two seemed to have done a bit of research before bringing us here_." said another but very familiar voice.

"Derek? What-how is he-" "Shut up and watch."

" _Indeed. They both sent me message scrolls about what you and your group have doing so far in Avalar. And I must say for you to go up against such lethal force is astonishing."_

 _"Well it kinda is our job. Though I doubt we're getting paid in any form."_

By now the image had finally cleared up. The group now having a clear view of the conversation before them. Everyone knew where the location was, the Chronicler's library or another part of it. Standing in the foreground was easily the distinguished form of Derek in his blue and black jumpsuit wearing what the team could easily tell was a slime blower unit. Across from him was a old man that Danny was resisting the temptation of making a Gandalf the White pun giving the robes, staff and beard. One thing that did surprise them however was the two dragons that flanked Derek's left and right sides. One they easily tell was the Chronicler. Only now he seemed to have shrunk down to Derek's height. And the other but with a mix of different shades of orange.

"Who's that?" Rachel asked looking over the orange dragon. Looking for a second before turning to cunder for a possible answer.

Cynder at the moment had her mouth on the floor while staring at the image. Her emerald eyes seemingly freeze up with ice. "That's… that's _Ignitus_ …"

Cynder just couldn't believe it. There he was as fine as the day before they lost him. Before his sacrifice to help her and Spyro get past the belt of fire. Everyone turned back to face the image dumbfounded. While it was a bit of a surprise to see a human sized dragon, it was a bit strange seeing someone that they've read had died, and yet be before them as not a ghost.

" _I'm sure we can think of something for your time. But do not worry, you will."_

 _"That's a relief-omff_!" Danny muttered as he rubbed his sore side. " _But back on topic regarding Malefor, what else can we expect from him?"_

 _"Like you have seen and said, he is just a ghost of himself in a world that he's trying to alter so that he can reform. After your first encounter I suspect he will try a new method of acquiring a body."_

 _"Possession by blood sacrifice."_

Now everyone was confused. But the Ghostbusters knew all too well where this conversation was going.

" _You mean he would have to steal someone's body?_ " Ignitus asked trying to get an idea of what Derek meant.

" _In a way. It's what Shandor first tried to do with his only living descendent, Ilyssa. To assume his destructor form he required a blood sacrifice involving the use of his own blood line. When he came to our world it was just the matter of gaining enough power back."_

" _And you think that Malefor will go after either Spyro or Cynder?_ " the Chronicler asked.

Derek just shrugs, " _Possibly. As a act of revenge more likely. They are two of the most powerful beings on this planet that can rival him in power. With the addition of us and him using black slime as a ghost it's pretty much a stalemate. But back to the matter of it, I don't think so. While it would be bitter sweet, I highly bet he would look for something a lot more newer and unknown. Something that this world has yet to fully understand its power."_

Both sides waited for a moment to let the fresh in formation sink in. It wasn't hard for any of them to know what Derek meant; Malefor was looking for something. But it left everyone's minds asking who.

"This is bad." Leo said quickly running calculations. "If Malefor really is looking for someone to possess, God knows how bad this could be of he finds them."

"But who?" Cynder asked wondering of Derek was technically referring to her and Spyro but just said it was like someone else.

The team all pondered for a moment. Trying to think of every living being they had encountered so far. The only ones that could fall as suitable candidates was the Guardians, King RedStone, or some of the more high powered dragons they've seen.

Just then Leo's Pke began to rapidly beep. "Energy spikes surging. Something's happening."

"Wait… Look." Rachel pointed towards part of the room.

Everyone leaned as close as they could to the window to see what she had saw. They squinted thinking it was something tiny, but when the door in the background become shadier, they knew something was up. This was even further confirmed, when Leo's and even Derek's meter on the other side both started to rapidly buzz and flash red. Derek immediately pulled the meter from his belt and raised it to the air.

" _Gentlemen, we are not alone here._ " he then turns his whole body to the doorway.

The others following his gaze as the meter whirled louder. The screen filling almost completely in red as he quickly put the meter back on his belt and retook the handles of the slime blower. For a good second everyone waited for whatever the meter had detected, and on the others case, what Rachel saw, the buldging door.

* _ **CHK-ANN***_

The door suddenly flies off its hinges in a shower of splinters. The dragons both bring their wings up to shield their eyes from the debris as Eon brought his staff forward in both hands. Further making Danny want to blurt out a Gandalf joke the orb at the top quickly ignites in a flash or purple as whatever debris that managed to reach him merely bounces off the shield. For Derek he had a split second before he turned to the left and brought the blower up to where it could shield his face. All four stayed as the wind from beyond the door grew to the velocity of a small twister that caused anything not nailed down to rattle or fall to the floor.

After a few moments the ghostly wind dies to a complete stop. The debris finally ending its battering as everyone took a moment to look around.

The Chronicler muttered disappointingly, _"Curses… It took me months organizing this place."_

Derek couldn't help but chuckle. Knowing his pain. " _Yeah, I've been where you are right_ -" * **BEEEEEE** -* His Pke whirls like a race car taking down the track as the wings threatened to even break through the holster. Wondering what causing this, Derek looked everywhere for the possible source. But when he faces the door again, it was clear to everyone something wasn't right when he froze.

" _Derek_?" Ignitus asked the human. The Ghostbusters instantly became tense at knowing that look. But instead of answering or even giving a resounding 'hmmm' he lets the blower fall from his grasp and clank against the hardwood. Without warning he falls to his knees with enough for his pads cause to decent dents.

" _Derek! What's wrong?_!" Ignitus asked trying to help the human to his feet. Derek tries grabbing his claw to help himself up but falls back down when he swiftly retracts his hand in favor of his head.

" _AAAHHHHH **HHHHHH**_!"

Everyone on each side quickly grasps their ears as the yell of agony quickly become more like a screech with the sharpness equal to dragging metal against glass. The wind returns with even more intensity as the three were forced back away from Derek.

" _ **Let me in**_ …" a dark, hollowed voice bellowed from the winds. Derek launches his head back despite the huge slime tanks making it impossible for a normal human to do so. Facing upwards his eyes snap shut as everyone could only watch as he was lifted from the ground. The swirling winds tightening around into a dark vortex of a black fog.

" ** _Let me in… You can't resist my power_** …"

As giving a response, Derek's eyes snap open only this time they were the same purple eyes that Cynder easily remembered from minutes ago. Only this time they held onto a much, much darker shade with the irs's fading into both red and black.

Then, in what could be the most demonic voice that any Ghostbuster ever heard, he spoke. " **YOU DO NOT KNOW THE TRUTH OF YOUR POWER**."

Quickly a whitish pink light suddenly launches out latching onto the darkness inside the vortex. Instantly the light expands out until both the room and window are completely blinded.

The 5 quickly shield their eyes as they backed away from the window. Rachel trying to use her gun by peeking through the gap between her thrower handle and slime blower nozzle but instead uses it to shield herself. Leo's meter soon began to rapidly flash its own pink as the wings randomly fell and raised. The display screen glitching into a staticy mess as it tried to figure out what it was picking up. For Danny he tried using his hands, but ultimately decided on using Mike, who was also using his hands, as a meat shield. For Cynder however, using her dark elements she was able to dial her vision down. Making her eyed act if they had on biological sunglasses than in darkness.

Though the light wasn't on her mind; it was the voice that Derek spoke in. She had been in the presence of dark creatures before; being around Malefor only made her know what it could be when an evil spirit talked. And she could feel it, if that dark mass was Malefor trying to take over, than what stopped him?

She and Spyro were strongin of themselves. Even back then when so young they were still affected by it. And yet now Malefor tried the same move again, and failed. She would have to tell the Guardians this, and Spyro. Though she suspected that the Ghostbusters would tell them about this new information. To say that Derek was now a direct target would no doubt stir up trouble. But she also wondered what Spyro's reaction would be when they tell him Ignitus is in fact very much live.

"EVERYONE HANG ON!" Leo shouted.

Shaking her head clear she saw everyone was struggling to stand up as the pressure of the air became thick like ash. Even for the dragoness it became harder to breath as in just one blink, the whole area changed. Reeling from the sudden mind rush the others quickly took note of their surroundings.

"What the hell?!" Mike telled trying to rub his eyes clear.

"We're back!" Danny exclaimed. He was right. They were back in the bedroom that remained the same right when the came in.

"Derek!" two voices shouted in unison.

Everyone on quickly turned around at the source of the voices as they saw Rachel sitting on the ground trying to get the slime blower unit, that to everyone's surprise actually came back with him, off Derek's limp body as Cynder stood opposite cradling his head.

"Derek! Derek are you okay?!" she yelled lightly shaking his sweating body. It was even stranger he had his entire uniform back on him. Showing no signs of any damage from previous events that caused it to be useless. At first there's no answer; only his bottom lip quivering for a moment before his eyes cracked open.

 _"He knows_ …" he said in a dry voice. " _He knows_ …"

* * *

Wow, I've been writing this a whole year now. And I'm disappointed in myself for not getting it further along. I knew if I really buckled down on it it would be to chapter 47 by now. My first story got to chapter 17 in its sequel when I was writing a alternate version of it. But this I have the very beginning being written along with the thing set after it.

And this will probably bey biggest story lasting until maybe 2019. Cause when I do get Broken Reality done and Shadows of the Past to a large chunk I hope to start the next Crossover.


	28. Is This Normal Now?

Chapter 28: Is This Normal Now?

Arc 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

Not dead yet. This is something I got to finish. This contains spoilers for Shadows of the Past but since that isn't written yet it'll be more broken apart.

Am trying to keep these chapters have a 2000-3000 minimum word count. (Oddly enough this chapter is actually almost double what I originally thought it would be.)

* * *

Gathered around the dining table where the dragons held their meeting, the 8 Ghostbusters sat at the far end of the table with shallow looks. Leo and Jack sat side by side trying to think of ways that their situation can turn back into their favor after losing it in mere seconds.

Finding out that Derek's little secret that he tries to hide is now known to the enemy is something they weren't counting on at all to happen. Let alone having Malefor nearly possess something the team is still trying to figure out about. If their theory was correct, than the ghost dragon would have to become a lot more powerful to break his defenses.

On the opposite side of them Derek sat in his chair with his arms crossed and eyes focused on one spot on the wood table; many would think he was trying to burn a hole through it. Not even the plate of food in front of him caught his attention. And this caught the other's attention as well. Rachel sat right beside him in her causal under clothes (not underwear, just normal clothes they wear under the suits when they take them off.) with her arm hooked around Derek's as her chair was pressed up against his and her head leaning on his arm. One thing that happened today made Rachel very worried, this was exactly like what happened 4 years ago only this time right now he wasn't fading from existence. But feeling her presence against his, Derek let out a deep exhale before shutting his eyes and leaning his head down over Rachel's.

Meanwhile on the other side of the table, the dragons all sat around going over Cynder's account.

"So you're saying that Malefor will try to target the humans directly?" Cyril asked taking a brief glance at the group.

The dragoness nodded once. "After what happened in the mountain, there's no doubt about it. In this new form _we_ can barely do anything to him unless he possesses a physical body. But _they_ can." She jabs a claw in their direction. "In either form they can hurt him significantly. To him we're just flies while their the meal. Take them out of the equation, and you don't really have any threat against him."

It was true; take out the support and the whole thing will come down with it. Though Redstone didn't want this to be in his castle. "And what of their leader?" he spoke in a distrust tone. The kind where someone believed a close allie was a traitor. "What of his… powers?"

Cynder physically winced. It sounded all too much like what she was she treated as, but that thankfully died off some time ago. Though from what she saw in the human's mind she knew it was something different.

"It's...similar to what mine was. But this was much, much stronger."

"Its Demonic Possession."

Everyone's gaze snapped around to see Leo, Jack and Mike standing on the left side of the table eyeing each dragon. Behind them Derek looked over to his friend knowing what he was about to say.

The dragons however, did not. "What do you mean Demonic? Like there's a spirit inside him?" Spyro casted his own look towards the human.

"Yes. But as we said before, Every living thing has two forms of existence. Spiritual that makes them _them_. And the physical form that spirit creates as a image of itself. That's why age is just one long event. A soul can only hold their forms for so long and why many remind things like past lives and the act of reincarnation."

"What about rebirth?" Redstone asked.

"Rebirth is a bit different but similar to reincarnation. Think of of like a broom; You take the same exact broom as the one you already have. You replace the handle, sometime later, you replace the brush, and repeat that for sometime. It looks like the original but it's not. But back to the main topic, bodies are meant to fit the souls they're meant for 100% of the time. But when possession happens it disrupts that. When something takes over a body, it pushes whatever spirit it has into a crumpled form. Like what happened with you, Cynder."

A expression of anger and hurt appeared in her muzzle. Mike stepped forward catching this familiar look. It was the kind he saw when working the streets of New York for so long. "Sorry to compare you to this, Cynder. But between what Derek had been through and your past it's hard not to draw the lines."

"Speaking of such," Leo said taking a seat across from the legendaries. "The difference between both is that Cynder was under negative energy influence. Derek had full on possession by a Class 9 Hell Star. Or a demon born from the heart of hell itself. But with such a thing to happen would cause his soul to be permanently kicked out. Without it his body would of faded from existence. But, and we still don't know the full extent of it even after almost 5 years, is that when Derek came out of the portal from… somewhere, back to our world, he was able to retain a fraction of his human soul. After nearly fading out and a month of spiritual therapy we were able to stabilize at least 10 percent of his soul in conjunction to the other 90 the demon took up."

Volteer, while taking notes again, looked up puzzled. "But from what we've seen you do, can't you remove it with your slime?"

"No," Jack spoke, "The positive slime we use is meant to separate invading forces of spiritual essence. Not remove or strip from the body. If that was the case than every person we ever hit with the slime blower would technically be dead right now. Including you, Terrador."

The earth dragon leaned back a little fearful at what he just heard. Thanking the ancestors it wasn't the case and let out a small puff of air he didn't know he was holding. Spyro and Cynder on the other hand was a bit taken back by this sudden new information. The way Leo described it only made it more clear to both dragons that what they experienced wasn't anything to compare with.

"Then what should we do?"

Leo brought a hand to his forehead, "At this point we can only hope Malefor doesn't get any bright ideas. If he tried to possess Derek earlier but failed it was probably because the demon forced him out. A invading spirit trying to possess something with demonic energy is always bound to be kicked out from the latter."

At this Terrador stood from his seat and walked around Volteer and Cyril so that he stood behind the younger dragons, looking down to the scientist. "Then from now I recommend we keep you all under our protection for some extent. Spyro and Cynder have already proven themselves capable of handling situations that required their aid and it would do you well to have more power."

"Agreed. What do you think, Derek?" Leo turned back expecting to see his friend and leader still sitting in his spot. Though what he got was the rest of the team eating along with Rachel who was on her phone.

"Derek? Where'd he go?" Rachel looked up from her screen. "He went out for some fresh air. You know how he is during these kind of things."

" _Unfortunately_..." he muttered sinking into his seat with both hands covering his face. "Guys could you go and… where did Cynder go?"

Everyone turned around at the same moment to see that the shadow dragon's seat beside Spyro was now devoid of life. Everyone looked around trying to find any sign of her; foot steps across the stone floor or a door handle jiggling. Even a misplaced shadow, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Spyro on the other hand knew where she went. He wondered why she slid under the table and vanished into a mass of Shadow before heading to the same door the human disappeared through.

Outside the castle Derek strolled through the gate and entered the rebuilding city. Having stopped by the trailer to grab his rifle and Pke meter, feeling a lot more safe with them, he also stripped away his suit for a more casual look. He had on his signature dark gray jacket that stayed mostly unzipped so that his gear would mostly be covered up. Providing that no one notices a third of the rifle sticking out from underneath. Along with a topaz blue sports shirt that had a dotted flow look like they all did that concealed a normal white and red undershirt. Covering his legs were black Adidas sweatpants that were more like his shirt than the really fluffy kind with a neon green strip going from the side of his thigh down to his ankles that covered up the top of his boots.

To most he would look like he was just relaxing during some downtime. But in reality he was still bothered by the sudden attack hours ago. It wasn't at all the first, or even tenth time that's nearly happened. If it wasn't for spending so much time around paranormal energy and at times even being helped by the demon, a reason why his strength, speed, senses and stamina has practically tripled since the day he got possessed; it acted like a secondary barrier preventing things from taking over him. But when they do, it makes his mind freeze like bugs with thousands of legs are crawling over every nerve.

And usually the only way to get that out of his head is by busting. Which at the moment isn't possible, but you'll never know. Drinking; which on his case his Pepsi reserve is running lower than he would ever want it to be. He only had 16 bottles left, he would go crazy when it got into the single digits. Or going on walks around the city. While for 7 years he's gotten pretty adapted to New York's layout, he was still trying to figure out Warfang's setup; Crystalline was a bit more scattered in the terms of building placement.

Though finding the more war torn side was easy enough. As he walked by the damage varied from just a few destroyed windows or tipped over tree to complete piles of rubble to just square slabs of dirt. It burned in his heart seeing people's lives turn to this. Knowing that hours ago he was part of that reason. It reminded him much about a year ago; for New York to suffer that level of damage and death and almost be completely rebuilt in a year, it made him stand and look at life in a light of glory and strength. It showed the truth of human spirit around the world to unite and rebuild. Even here it existed. And that was something he was willing to fight for.

As he entered the more standing part of town the level of activity steadily grew As more and more dragons appeared walking about; going on whatever tasks they had today. But the moment one dragon saw him, the others followed like a falling line of dominos. Whole varieties of color, element and size shifted their gaze on the human as he walked back. He remembered the people's reaction from seeing him, and was thankful that he had his ghost patch on literally every coat he owned to show them who he was. Some smiled, others backing away fearing he would erupt into a screaming ghoul.

But did Derek care for the latter; Nope.

He just kept on walking down the street with his head low and and gaze forward. Rounding a long curve in the road he found it led to some kind of market/park place where the city held a lot more of it's beauty and color. At the very center was a large fountain easy bigger than any dragon here with a bluish white marble statue of 4 dragon heads. Each holding one of the 4 element traits with 4 claws cupped together holding a red sphere he figured was the planet.

The benches that surrounded said fountain were more like oval bowl that ran around the outside of the fountain. It was a bit confusing for Derek, this wasn't your usual park bench where you turn around and sit. The way the dragons used them where in a way of almost laying curled up in the outer groove or if with someone would sit side by side with their tails resting off the back end and their front paws hanging off the front.

A bench was a bench though. So Derek strolled right up to the first one that was empty and say down and leaned up against the right side. His right leg laying across the pad while his left and rifle stood on the ground. It felt nice to sit here actually. The curve was actually pretty nice for the strain in his back for wearing a proton pack for so long and felt like it was twisting a few knots out. Letting out a deep sigh he sank further down as he looked over to the fountain. The trickling water really did make it have a much more soothing feel to the area as he inhaled deep and closed his eyes.

He stayed like this for a minute. Not at all feeling uncomfortable from anyone that passed by. But the feeling of someone _very_ close by made him open his eyes and look over towards his side. His right hand reaching over to the handle of his rifle flicking on the power switch. Slowly turning his head he half expected to see a large dragon standing their. But when he didn't see anything he looked to the ground. To his surprise it was a group of at least 5 dragons that probably only reached up to his knee stood there staring up at him.

The first one he could tell was female due to their body being lot more slimmer than the others 3. The first that was closer to him was one of the females that was a shade of topaz blue just a pinch lighter than his shirt. Her underskin was a bright shade of red that perfectly lined along scales. She had a row of pink spirals like Spyro and had three numbs that would most likely be the start of her horns. The second was male since he had a definite bulk around his body was a mix of yellow and red swirl like he was aimed at by a mixture with paint with a blue under belly that on his chest split apart halfway up his neck before curling around the sides of his head where it split again. This time as a three way that went behind his head to a little more developed set of horns. Around his eyes as if he had sun burned yellow onto his blue scales. And down the line of his jaw to a flame at his chin.

The third and center dragon was easily a male with the level of chub added to its arms, legs and torso and was a lightning shade of blue with a navy blue underbelly that had a zigzag edge to it. One noticeable thing was that at the end of its tall was a tail blade, much like what other dragons around here had. This one instead had his tail become slightly bulged up and take on the form of a horseshoe shaped lightning bolt.

The fourth dragon Derek could tell was female with her neck being more slender and arched back some like how Cynder's was. She was easily the biggest of the 5 and possibly reached just up to his thighs. She was a **deep** crimson color that one could easily think she was bathed in dried blood. But the offset was the 4 horns on her head that retained a deep orange color with the inner set curled back almost like demon horns and the outer bending downwards. Unlike the four her wings rested a bit further out from her body as if she was just ready to twitch and fly off. Though unlike the others her secondary color was on her wings and tail that held a vibrant ruby shade that seemed to a actually shine more in the light than the other scales did. And her tail blade reflected that perfectly and literally. Instead of a single piece hers was a double part X of a flame symbol that looked like a enclosed grappling hook.

The last dragon was a male and for a second Derek could've sworn he was looking at a mini Dredge. The boy's scales and eyes were actually the same color if it wasn't for a much lighter shade of brown to start from his neck and spread over his back like a tattered cape. It spread down to all four of his legs before abruptly stopping at the base of his tail with his blade more like a rocky club.

Neither beings said a word nor moved. At first Derek blinked a few times to just try and close his eyes. Thinking he was just imagining them. But when he looked back they were still there staring. Looking around he figured their parents was just about to come over and take them away but that didn't happen.

So being the one to break the ice, he asked first. "Is there something I can help you with, kids?"

They blinked again as if someone had just asked a dog about the weather. Until the red female stepped forward. "You're a weird cheetah." she said on a voice just edging on puberty.

"That's because I'm not a cheetah. I'm a human."

"A human?" the dark green dragon said cocking his head back in question. "You look like one of those apes our parents always warned about."

He felt insulted, but he held back the remark in the name of children present. "A human and ape are two different beings from the same species. Apes were stuck in the trees and humans stood up walked around. And before you go telling your parents when they say I'm a ape, just tell them there's a 2 million year gap between our kind."

Now this really got the kids attention. He guessed that they weren't expecting that to be a response they thought was coming. But who can blame them; kids will be kids.

"So what's that thing?" the topaz dragon asked pointing a claw at the proton rifles barrel sticking out of his coat. Making sure to flip the power off he moved the coat some to show the entire length of the thrower in all it's scratched up glory. He would bet his next Pepsi the moment he turned it on all 5 of them would move their heads in sync with the cyclotron lights.

"This is a Mark 3 Positive Ion Particle Thrower. Or Proton Rifle for simpler terms." Each one only got the looks of confusion other than that 'wow it's a laser gun' kind of thing he usually gets. "Errr… it's a fire arm that helps me fight ghosts."

The chubby drake shakes his head. "Wait, you're one of the ghost fire people?"

"Ghost fire- you mean Ghostbusters? Then yes, I am." he twisted on his side and brought around his other arm to show them the no ghost patch on his shoulder. This time the kids eyes widened in surprise and excitement.

Without much thought they suddenly jumped up to him. The topaz dragoness gave her wings a hard flap when her claws latched on to the edge of the bench and flipped over landing on his right side. Quickly sitting up he suddenly feels the dragon collapse over his right thigh with her tail actually waging like a dog. Quickly the others joined in; the yellow red and green drakes both hopped up and took hold of his entire left leg while the more chubbier one struggled a bit. Finally the larger red dragoness landed between his legs and curled her arms and feet under her body much like a cat would and wrapped her tail around her right side.

Now in their comfortable positions, all 5 looked up to the now confused human. The red one spoke; "Can you tell us some stories?" Her eyes widened with hope of hearing some of his adventures. The other 4 quickly falling in line as they looked up to the buster.

While this wouldn't be the first time, well, first time with dragons, he figured there's one story that before he could tell them about his, they'll have to watch where it all started.

"Actually… I got a better idea." reaching into his pocket he pull out his phone and went straight to the Movies app.

Cynder groaned as she went down another street of the city. After seeing Derek leave the dining hall she opted to keep a watch on him when he was away from his team.

After hearing about his 'situation' and even get a taste of it, she feared what could happen if someone had the brains to try and not make him lose control. But after he got passed the castle gates she almost instantly lost track of him. She saw that he did change out of his suit into a darker set of clothes but for him, something that in this type of city would stick out like a sore claw, it wouldn't be impossible to find him.

Using her senses like radar she tried to find his presence among the hundreds here. While there was a trace of him around the market area, so was a huge gathering of a few dozen dragons there as well.

Her eyes bulged out for a second. Thinking that if there was that many dragons there and Derek was in the middle of it, it couldn't be a good thing.

"Oh no…" Spreading her wings she jumps into the air and takes off for the market. Fearing that the citizens decided again his and his team's presence wasn't welcomed she bolted faster than a F-22 jet to the area.

Once she was over it though she could see a massive crowd gathered around the central fountain. Dragons of literally every size and color mix sat in a large semi circle all facing a big rock wall just feet away. Encircling behind the group she prepared herself to see a dragon and human fighting it over. Only when did she see what was on the wall.

Some kind of image was being projected over the wall with what looked like a group of three other humans sitting at a table. The image quickly switched to a female human trying to do something with her footwear when a sudden ring sound came from nowhere. She picks up a small tan object and begins talking to it as everyone literally leaned forward wondering what she was saying. Flying down to the ground she lands in a small gap between two fire dragons as she to watched in curiosity.

" _WE GOT ONE!"_ she yells as her hand slams down on a red button. The view switches to a red bell blaring as the three men looked up from their food.

The much more bulked figure was the first to react. " _It's a call."_

Suddenly a high beat song starts playing from nowhere as the three men rush down a pole to the lower level where they open up 3 large wooden lockers and start dressing themselves. It was hard for Cynder to think what was happening. But when two large doors swung open revealing a yellow plate that said 'Ecto-1' she immediately knew, somewhat, what this was.

The shot of 4 lights turning on and the roar of a engine was quickly followed by a whirling siren that ran in tandem with the flashing blue lights. It then turns to a outside view of a vast set of buildings at night right before the car sped out of the building it was in, briefly showing the no ghost logo on it's door, and down the street some before disappearing around the corner. The words 'Sedgewick Hotel' came in a bright orange before the vehicle rolled up to a empty spot right in front of the building. The view on the logo before going to a inside view.

" _Hey anyone see a ghost?"_ the middle, more shellacked man said as they entered.

Many people walked by wondering what they were before a more well dressed man came by, spooking them slightly, talked to them about the situation. They then met a man dressed in a over cost asking what they were and when they entered the elevator began feeling a bit worried about the untested equipment.

Though the next scene took the cake. As they got off the elevator to look around a low humming and the sound of squeaking wheels from a clean cart makes the two of them jump around and fired their guns. Even on video film their equipment showed it packed power as it tore apart the cart. The middle man finally stopping his colleagues as the woman emerged from behind.

" _What the hell are you doing?"_

" _Sorry." "I'm sorry" "We thought you were someone else."_

He turned around with a slight smirk. " _Successful test?"_

She shook her head at the man's remark, "And successfully traumatizing a poor lady…" she muttered out loud making even some dragons nod in agreement.

"Cynder?" Derek's voice came from the crowd. Cynder snapped her head around to find the source but all she saw was a huge group of hatchlings all bunched up in a group with several more in the front. She looked at each one until a out of place face gave way in a break of color.

"Hey. Would try and stand but as you can see." he gestured to the hatchlings covering his body. The only thing not covered was his right hand that had his rifle pointing out towards the rock wall with his phone connected by a wire sitting on top.

"Enjoying the movie? Figured since the hatchlings were getting a kick out of it so would the others."

" _Come in, Ray."_ They look back at the film to see Peter standing still with a radio up to his mouth.

" _Venkman, I saw it! I saw it! I saw it!"_

It then shows a green mass with arms down the opposite end of the hallway Peter was in. " _It's right here, Ray. Its looking at me."_

" _He's a ugly little spud, isn't he?"_

" _I think he can hear you, Ray."_

" _Don't move. It won't just you."_

Though that couldn't be said for the ghost as it charged forward roaring out. Peter too began screaming as he braces himself. Ray could be seen quickly running through the halls to his fallen comrade, rounding a corner to see Peter rolling on his pack with green goo covering his upper torso.

" _Venkman, Venkman what happened, are you okay_?"

" _He slimed me…"_

" _That's great! Actual physical contact!"_ It was at this moment that the shadow dragon suddenly had the look of surprise. The three characters they were watching was so much like them. Derek was definitely like Ray in the terms of seriousness and funniness. Peter was kinda like Rachel when it came to the obvious of a moment and Leo was like Egon because… well, science.

"Strange isn't it? That this movie is nearly 40 years old and no matter what still holds up. Even when there are real life people who do this this. Right here is where it all started."

It was weird even after now. He and his team were Ghostbusters. Not just busters in some world where they never existed; in a world where everyone knew the name, the song and everything else. Hell he met the exact same people they were watching right now, despite this being 15 years before when and where they were from, and busting on his home turf was really something.

"Come on kids. Make room for the nice lady." the kids all let out a series of 'aws' when they had to move off of their human pillow. Most moving to the ground along with the others as a spot on the bench became available. Looking back to Cynder he nudged his head over.

She was flattered to say the least, and carefully navigated her way over to the bench and curling into the small provided space. Once she sat down with her front paws resting over the edge she carefully moved her head over to where it laid on his thigh.

Sighing at the comfortable feeling she looked back up to the film just as a really catchy song started playing.

* * *

Wrote this in under three days. Getting the motivation back.

And Damn, expected this to a least be 3 and not near 5000.


	29. Departing for Home

Chapter 29: Departing for Home

Arc 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

After the meeting concluded, the remaining Ghostbusters, Guardians, Spyro, Hunter, and Redstone all gathered in the courtyard. The team's vehicles were all neatly parked in a semi circle ready to make the journey back home.

Standing in front of the Ecto-1, Leo and Hunter were looking over a large map sprawled over the hood. "Because of the war most of the main paths have been left in ruins. Seeing as how you carved a new one we might be able to use it as a direct link to Warfang. There is another path to the East to here that has the river running under the ground via a cave. So you should be dry."

Leo nodded as he looked over the map."Thank you, Hunter. And thanks for the hospitality." he held his hand out.

The cheetah smiled as his hand shook the human's, "Please, we should be thanking you. If it wasn't for you and your team Crystalline would be nothing but a patch of dirt. I hope we can return the favour one day."

"hehe. I'll hold you to that." With that Hunter turned back and headed to the gate. Getting further away as he merged with the crowd. Rolling the map up he slid it into the front seat of the Cadillac.

Over near the semi, the others were restocking more food into the trailer for the trip. Roger sat up in Ecto-2 making sure that all systems were clear. Jack was at the front picking bits of wood from the pushbar as he went vehicle by vehicle inspecting it. Ben and Danny both sat in Ecto-4, since the was open there was no need for the cannon to clear a new one, there wouldn't be a person in the back. Though they opted to keep their proton packs in the back seat. Mike was inside the trailer taking in inventory of all weaponry, finding that their proton rifle was missing. But knowing how it's Derek's personal gun and he's rarely seen without it when working he had a pretty good idea on where it was at the moment.

Rachel stood some distance away with the dragons looking over the fleet. Noting the few extra crates of supplies given to them by Redstone as a bit of a 'gift' that were being carried out by a few cheetah. Strangely enough, it was the same cheetah that a few days ago had almost forced them out. It was so weird how fast their actions and thoughts to the humans changed so fast.

"You know, it's weird how they all act now." Spyro said leaning towards her.

"My thoughts exactly. From their reactions upon seeing us at first I've rarely seen so many change so fast."

He nodded, "Yeah. That's what they actually thought about me and Cynder when we first came to Warfang from being stuck under Malefor Mountain for three years. They do it because they don't know what to do. They look for someone that can protect and guide them."

"And when you came back after the whole event on the core, how'd that go?"

"Well…" he rolled his claw trying to get a thought rolling. "It was weird. First it was like being praised and trialed at the same time. People shunning me for being a purple dragon. But over some time People have gotten used to me and when they realized what I've done. They start to look up and see the truth. For you guys you all did that on Day 1. Well, Derek did. But that by extension went to you too."

"Incoming!" Mike yelled from the trailer. Everyone suddenly jumped into a ready position for whatever was coming.

But instead of a ghost or monster, the revving of an engine broke the silence. Blasting out of the trailer Derek's motorcycle roared to life as it speed around the vehicles. Nearly hitting the cheetah, a few dragons and even Leo who walked around to see from behind the car. In a flash of its emergency lights the siren kicked in as it sped past the group and out the gate into the city.

The dragons were all a bit startled to see the two-wheeler drive away by itself. But after seeing Derek call it to him when they first met him made them get the idea. Redstone on the other hand, "WHAT was _that?!_ " He asked looking to the gate. "Your machine just… Took off by itself!"

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Knowing that technology that one would find in the 1500s still had yet to be invented in this world she had to admit that when they all saw X1 driving itself they thought a ghost had it. Only to find out it was a upgrade to remotely call it.

"It's fine. Derek has a remote that sends a signal to it that he can call it to him. Spooked us a few times when he did that."

"And it means he's probably getting ready to go too." Leo spoke out Walking up to them with the others. "I think it would be best to get on the road. If we travel fast enough we should reach Warfang by noon tomorrow."

Terrador fully agreed, "In deed. We should get back home before something happens to it. We bid you a farewell, Redstone."

"And the same to you old friend. Safe travels."

"Alright let's move out!" Mike yelled heading back to the vehicles.

"Should I get the chopper in the air?" Roger asked Leo as he walked backwards some. "Don't bother. If we need a scout we'll send of up but for now just ride with Mike."

"Alrighty then."

Heading over to the semi Roger hopped into the cab as Mike took the wheel. Jack, finishing up with locking the trailer, walked over and slid into the cab to sit in the sleeper part of the truck. Danny and Ben revved Ecto-4's engine as they pulled around. Leo and Rachel then made their way to Ecto-1.

"Hey," Rachel quickly turned around to see Spyro. "Mind if I ride with you guys?"

"Just don't claw at the seat!" Leo hollered from the driver's side as he sat at the wheel.

Nudging her head the girl and dragon closed the gap between them and the Cadillac as Rachel gratefully opened the rear door for the dragon to hope into the back seat. Tucking his wings closer as he squeezed inside he laid his body across the seat's entire length as when Rachel closed the door, his tail loosely hanged out the window. Climbing into the passenger's seat the medic got into a comfy position for the long trip.

Rolling his window down Leo stuck his head out, "We'll go slow for you guys to stay in group!" he shouted to the Guardians. Each one nodding as all the cars powered up. Running for a moment until all their emergency lights switched on into a white pulse as the forward blinkers flashed blue back and forth.

Ecto-1 was the first to move out of line as Ecto-4 followed behind. Ecto-7/2 brought up the rear as the fleet slowly pulled towards the gate. Everyone present was waving a goodbye as outside the gate the streets began to clear a path. They too cheering on the humans and dragons as they drove by.

Picking up the radio from the dashboard Leo commed in the others. "Alright, we're gonna go get Derek and then be on our way."

 _Elsewhere…_

Back at the market, the giant crowd that had gathered around the fountain was 3 times bigger than what it was when Cynder first came to get Derek. The crowd was so big now, the rock wall used to show the film had to be increased so that everyone could see. Cynder even utilized her Shadow Element to make the area darker so that the film was a lot brighter to see. Everyone dragon, mole, cheetah and others all say quietly watching. They had already gone through the first movie and was now near the midway point in the second. Right as the 3 go to examine the baby.

Sitting on a more relaxed position, Cynder had her head calmly laying on top of Derek's lap looking on at the movie. The human himself had moved further back in the larger seat so that his rifle could cover the whole wall as it played Ghostbusters II from his phone. Even now there was still a large blanket of hatchings that sat around them watching.

On the screen it showed Peter and Egon dressed as two workers now dropping a wire into a large hole.

" _You good?" Egon shouted._

The scene suddenly changed to Ray as he's at the end of the wire going down.

" _Yeah, I'm good, Speeds good boys, keep it coming."_ he said into his headset. Slowly going further down past pipes as he looked around with a head lamp. Soon a pinkish glow broke past. Immediately everyone moved forward an inch to get closer.

" _We're breaking through, see some light. I'm in some kind of a chamber; there's tilework-SLIME!"_

" _What?"_

" _IT'S A RIVER OF SLIME!"_ The scene changes to show Ray dangling from the ceiling in a large room. A large tunnel on the back wall extended beyond it as a massive river of pink goo flowed through it.

"T _here's gotta be 25,000 gallons of it! It's flowing through here like a river! Van Horne! Pneumatic transit. I can't believe it! It's the old pneumatic transit system! It's still here! Okay! Whoa, whoa! That's good! Hold me up! Hold me up! That's good!_ " he yelled as he was lowered closer to the slime.

The river had caught Cynder's attention greatly. All they've encountered so far was all black slime.

"Derek, how is that slime pink?"

"That's the Mood Slime. The kind that is heavily affected by emotions. This is the stuff Ivo Shandor made when he refined black slime and pumped it into the tunnels. That transit system is the same kind of network me and Spyro discovered under Warfang when hunting down that Elemental that caused it to manifest in this world briefly. But this slime as you will see is just like black slime." he pointed back to the movie.

Now in the museum of art, the curator, Janosz, was occupied with the Vigo painting. Almost instantly when everyone saw him they knew he was the big bad. His self portrait made that all the more clear.

As a brush gently stroked it's eyes, the man is suddenly struck by orange lightning. Yelling in pain as he falls to the ground.

" _Listen to me!"_ The painting changed as it now showed a giant floating head of Vigo.

He looked around trying to find the source of the voice. " _What?! Who?!"_

" _I, Vigo, the Scourge of Carpathia, the Sorrow of Moldavia, command you."_

" _Oh! Command me, lord!"_ he started bowing before the painting.

" _On a mountain of skulls in the castle of pain I sat on a throne of blood. What was will be! What is will be no more! Now is the season of evil…"_

" _Evil?"_

" _Find me a child that I might live again!"_ It turns to a painting again _._

" _Yes! A child! A child!... A child?"_ The second blast of lightning hits right into his eyes. Making everyone cringe. After a momet he stood there, touching his face as if he was just touched by a angle. " _A child!..."_

The scene then changed to where Ray was reeling up the newly acquired sample as he tried to move.

" _Uh, okay, boys? Boys? Pick me up now."_ he struggles to move. Several spots in the river begin to bubble up as claws and hands start forming from the slime. " _All right, there's some kind of activity going on with this stuff. Boys?"_

The claws get closer as one almost latches onto his leg. " _Hey, help! Pick me up!_

Quickly the two others begin the motor pulling Ray up as fast as possible. But in his desperation he kicks a old pipe that falls down onto a power line. Making the whole city become dark at night.

" _Derek, come in."_ Leo's voice suddenly called out from the radio on his belt. Fishing under his coat he pulls the walkie talkie off and up to his mouth.

"Yees?"

" _We're on our way to pick you up. Is your bike there?"_

"Yeah it's sitting just across from me." he looked where his motorcycle had parked itself next to the stone wall.

" _Okay, good. We're turning back and heading East to get back to Warfang right now so you need to go."_

"All right…" he put the device back. Reaching up he pulls his rifle from the position it was sitting at as it cut the movie. Earning many groans and what's of protest. "Sorry everyone but duty calls." he said as both he and Cynder stood up from the bench.

"Don't worry. If we come back I'll play the rest of it." Standing his full height he felt the dragoness jump into the with and latch onto his shoulders.

Carefully picking him up as they flew over to the bike. Thankful to see his pack sitting on the rear rack he was dropped down right on the rest as the engine powered up. Positioning herself she lowers down behind him as she too adjusted on the seat. Giving the now dispersing crowd one last wave he revved the throttle before digging his heel into the ground. The rear wheel momentarily smokes up as it launched forward. Spinning around a complete 180 as Derek and Cynder both sped away through the city.


	30. Rhythm of the Night

Chapter 30: Rhythm of the Night

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

So since this story was made before I could refine the universe more, this chapter and onward will be using what I can the Revised Canon that is a lot more refined than the early history in this story.

* * *

The journey back to Warfang was expected to be a long one compared to the first trip. Instead of clearing a straight path through the forest, the group had to follow the old trail, that was equally over grown, in a wide arc to get back to the city.

But the time was just what the team needed to recoup. Driving a steady 20 miles an hour through unknown forest was rather peaceful compared to New York. The lack of traffic, pollution, high rises blocking the sun replaced by the greens of nature were a sign that they all could agree was hopefully a sign for the better things of to come. They hoped for something, but kept their mouths shut to avoid jinxing it. Knowing full well that they needed to be on guard if _anything_ happened. The first 20 miles was fairly quiet. The only time they stopped was when the vehicle's sensors picked up weak Pke signals just floating about. The Ghostbusters mostly stayed put when Derek, Spyro or both would investigate. Finding nothing as just traces of a trail.

It wasn't until they got over the hill formation, like the one they originally set up camp days prior before arriving in Crystalline, did they reach their first true problem.

Trees. Thick, large, towering trees.

These things could be considered redwoods with their mass. The pathway they were traveling became more like a hiking trail than a dirt road. At first they tried cutting through; bringing Ecto-4 ahead of the group to try to blast a path big enough for the vehicles. While the Meson Cannon worked well, it was nearly a half an hour before the first tree was carved out enough for Ecto-1 to get tightly through. Even then there was the next tree, and the next one, and the next couple of hundreds that followed in suit.

Terrador and Spyro had to use a great portion of their Earth element just to clear at least another dozen others. But with interconnecting root system that could span for miles for a single tree,

And after trying to clear another large one out, Spyro, panting heavily from using a chunk of his power to do this one job, fell back on his hunches in defeat. "Okay… does anyone… have... any ideas?"

The small clearing was fairly silent for a good two minutes. Until one spoke, "I got one." Danny answered.

Hearing this the others shook their heads. Knowing that he was about to say something that wouldn't make any sense.

"What of we built a bridge?" This made even the dragons turn to look at him. "These things come in, what?, 1000 foot long segments. We got all the ones with moved already, why not just put them together over the top and build a bridge?"

There was a long pause afterwards. Everyone had some degree of dumbfoundedness that it was almost permanent.

"Danny," Leo said stepping forward, "That idea, while it would be nice, is literally _impossible_ to do. None of us have the strength to lift one of those things. Even all out of our packs on full power couldn't wrangle that thing into place."

"Derek was able to hold and slam both Stay Puft and Rowan with a rifle. And they were probably just as heavy."

Leo crossed his arms before countering, "Only they weren't nearly a 1000 feet tall."

"And they were heavily unstable and I had a power boost." Derek added.

Danny went to counter both of these claims, but found his word well drying up right when he needed it. "... Alright I give up."

Satisfied by his choice the others returned to the matter of getting through. Most of them were thinking of some ideas to fix this, most turning up on the red side of the scale.

"Roger, get Ecto-2 up in the air and head back the way we came. Look around for any pathway we can possibly double back to and use."

"Aye, aye, Captain Stewart." Roger said turning to head to the trailer.

"Why don't we go?" Spyro spoke up stopping him. All eyes turning to the purple dragon to continue. "Me and Cynder could easily fly around and back. Plus we can see things from the air you probably can't."

Derek pondered the idea for a moment. It felt right using the chopper since they could use the instruments on it. But having two sets of eyes seeing things that both the naked eye and possibly instruments can't see is something that countered the argument.

"Alright then. We'll start working our way back. We should run into each other again."

We a nod of confirmation the two dragons stepped over to a more clear spot making sure to have decent space to move. Spreading their wings and crouching their legs they both leaped up into the air. Climbing straight up to the top of the canopy as they both disappeared passed the green.

"Was it wise to send them alone?" Derek looked over to the one who voiced his concern, Volteer.

He replied, "In the sense, Yes. They, plus you three, know this world better than us eight combined. They know what's out there and have the power to defend themselves. And to addition of that, we are mostly restricted to the ground since not all of us can fight in the helicopter."

The electric dragon was about to respond, but was interrupted by the roaring of engines as they watched the small convoy of vehicles carefully turn themselves around to face the path they just came down. Heading over to the semi truck as he climbed up into the passenger seat. Sticking his hand out the window to motion for everyone to move forward.

 _Meanwhile…_

Around about 2 miles away from the group, the legendaries were making fast passes over the land below them. Having backtracked to the main road where they entered the thicker part of the forest in search for any sign of a new road.

Gracefully gliding through the cross winds, Spyro, with a keen eye, looked at the many patches of openings in the trees. Debating if he should continue finding a real path or go back and tell them this place was alright to blast another one through. "Find anything yet, Cynder?" He glanced over to the black mass that was about a football field's distance away.

"Not yet." she called back. Using even a little of Shadow Element to sweep the forest floor. Finding nothing that would serve its full purpose she banked back to him. "You would think there was something big enough for Terrador to fit through just fine."

"Hehe, yeah. Or if the humans were dragons. Then we could just fly straight over all this crap."

"I wonder what they would look like as dragons." Cynder thought with a hint of curiosity. This even made Spyro stop his search for a moment to think. It was much harder than they would expect to. They different shades of tan and pale skin, the only thing that really makes each one stand out over the other was their suits. And the additional equipment was a bit troubling as to how that would work out.

After the moment had passed they turned back towards the objective; "Well… so far nothing we've seen has been of use."

"*sigh* Let's head back, Cynder. Maybe we can think of something later." With a nod the two dragons turned back to road.

Though other than just going super speed to get to them, they gently let the weight of their forms to be held in the air as their wings were tilted just to keep them up like a kite. It was nice to just let the wind blow past them. The sunlight bathing them in a comfortable warmth as the cool breeze countered it. It was days like these that they were thankful for what they had done years ago. Even to this day they still felt the effects from that moment.

And while the sudden reemergence of Malefor was casting a shadow over it, they knew that despite everything so far, they had the odds more in their favor now than ever.

 _That Night..._

After flying around for another 2 hours, the two dragons had managed to relocate the convoy that had gotten to a small clearing big enough to fit both the vehicles and Guardians on both sides and still leave a descent amount of space at the center. A small fire sat at the very middle bathing the place in orange light, but despite this the all the vehicle's' emergency lights were set to a solid white making it seem like a party was going on from the air.

With the sun already breaching the horizon, or from what the ground team could tell was past the trees, they knew getting camp now would be the best course of action. Plus, it was a bit easier to spot them with a giant purple energy bubble over top of them.

Gliding on down to the dirt floor, both land in small plumes of dust kicked up by their wings. Giving their bodies a quick shudder as they shook off the sudden change in altitude they looked about the camp. The guardians had already set up what could be considered tents, but with a huge roll of hard fabric held up like a tent was connected to several points on the trees they set up in. For the Ghostbusters, only thing that was noticeable was that both the side door and rear gate of the trailer as wide open. Sounds of shuffling boots and clattering signaling that all 8 of them were inside.

Inside the trailer it was a mess to begin with. The main table that seated all 8 members was currently occupied by 6 of them as both Derek and Rachel were just 4 feet away making a proper diner for them all. With the stocked up amount of food from both Warfang and Crystalline. In a two large boiling pots of water, a stack of 14 corn on the cobs were cooking away, the other was full of grounded up meat with a variety of sauce and spice as chilli, and sitting in the oven almost done was a homemade form of stuffing. Since neither place had something close to the real thing, Derek thought it would be best to improvised with everything they got. Thought the first time it turned out something not even a hellhound would eat, they googled a way instead. And to make it a worthy meal, as a bit of a parting gift, a whole chicken was roasting nicely to a crisp with the outer breaded skin becoming a golden brown.

Now after about a hours of prepping, everything was just about done. Reaching over Rachel slides a mitten over her hand as Derek rhythmically opens the oven door. Pulling the try and cooked bird she carefully took the 6 pound piece of chicken to the table. Just as the tray hit the cooling rack Derek brought over the chilli that combined it's delicious steam with the chicken.

"Corn needs about two more minutes." he said turning back to the counter.

Having that the food present was decent enough to start with, Rachel slid in her spot next to Leo with just enough room for Derek to sit. Taking their forks and knives that dug in. Each taking a good chunk out of the bird and making a huge gap in the middle of the chilli as their plates became almost covered. Before they could however, a bowl of corn cobs slid onto the table with Derek sliding right in his spot. No speaking another word they started to truly enjoy their meal.

Stopping for a moment before part of a chicken leg could reach his mouth, Derek dropped the food back onto his plate and grabbed his soda bottle. Raising it up as to say cheers. "Team," he said stopping the others. "Tonight marks the first full month of us surviving in an unknown world. Here's to hopefully more days of such luck and setting a new world record."

"Wouldn't that be a universal record?"

"And... just like that the mood is gone. Thank you very much, Jack." The technician slightly frown at this. Shaking his head as the others dug back into eating.

Outside anyone's visible range of sense or care, the two dragons watched from just at the bottom of the ramp as they could hear the clattering of forks and cups with someone making a silent joke before everyone erupted in laughter.

Ducking his head back from the door Spyro turned back towards the fire. Letting out a deep sigh as he sat on the ground just a few feet away from the fire. Cynder followed close behind as she took a spot to his right. Eyeing him from the corner as to not look like she was directly focused on him. Spyro though knowing she was doing this avoided looking. Knowing it was just her being worried.

"So what troubles you this time?" she asked in a causal manner. It wouldn't be the first nor possibly the last time she asked that. It had become instinctive by this point in time.

"Huh? Oh,it's nothing actually. Just a bit tired." she looked at him more. And it was clear he wasn't lying. Despite having the powers as a purple dragon each day can make one tired by night. Without little word, the purple dragon stood from his spot and strolled towards the vehicles.

"Where are you going?" she asked with a raised brow as she watch him open the passenger to Ecto-1. A single talon pressing down the button on the side as the window rolled down about halfway before he let go.

"I asked earlier if we could sleep in their vehicles. Leo said okay as long as we don't tear up the seats or touch anything." In a cat like leap he goes head first into the car. Using the end of his tail to wrap around the handle to shut the door. "Well, goodnight, Cynder."

Watching through the half opened window the dragoness could see Spyro reach behind the seat causing the whole back rest to fall back with a clank. Seeing his back and wings lower to the point that she knew he was out cold, she let out a single chuckle and shook her head. "Goodnight, Spyro."

Turning back to the fire she sat there as if suddenly turned to stone. A few embers the rose up from the flames that still glowed with heat gentle floated in the air around the fire while they fizzled out and dropped like snow. Cynder turned her gaze further south, towards the top of the now accumulating ash pile that was housed under the pile of wood. Inside the small opening the soothing orange glow that looked like gold was on fire was not affected by the fire itself. Instead like it was slowly dug out and lite with a unknown power. She liked to see this. Just to stare for minutes to sometimes even hours at the glow. Why? Because it was a mystery. Looking at it, you see a calm light surrounded by chaos. It reminded her a lot, both good and bad, that no matter what, one side had to have another.

After about a solid 10 minutes, still staring into the glow, but now laying on the ground as if a dog was looking down in confusion, she senses slightly flared when she heard the clanking of metal. Turning to her left a bit, her gaze going all the way as far as it could go, she saw Rachel, Jack, Derek and Leo all follow out of the trailer. The looks of satisfaction on all their faces as Derek had a toothpick in his mouth, Leo had a canteen of water and Jack with a napkin wiping his hands.

"Well, that was satisfying." Derek said spitting the toothpick out.

"Yep." Jack replied putting the napkin away.

All four turned from the vehicle making a straight line to the fire. Immediately taking note who was laying there the four humans to a few places dragging pieces of firewood over to form a semicircle. With Derek and Leo on Cynder's left and Rachel and Jack on the right. Settling in a comfortable spot they all let out a quiet intake of air and exhale.

Glancing around Leo took notice of the absence of a purple dragon. "I take it that Spyro has turned in for the night."

"Yep." Lifting her tail blade up she pointed it towards the Cadillac.

"Figured he would. He nearly fell asleep when we left the city. Said our backseat was just too comfortable to leave."

"Hehe, that's Spyro for you. He learned that from Sparx. And thank the ancestors you guys managed to convince him not to come."

Derek then added, "Eh, It wasn't that hard. Plus he helps keep the amount of characters to keep track of down for a bit."

It was at that moment they all let out a heartily chuckle. As it slowly died down, a thought suddenly popped itself into Derek's mind. "This has been bugging me. If the Chronicler was able to transport us from our world, how could he do it so easily?"

Cynder leaned back a bit confused, not knowing if he was just speaking his mind or asking a question directly to her, "I… don't follow?"

"Our world is known as Prime Earth." Leo added. "It's in the core system of the Omniverse and is said to be _the_ creation world for all."

"Omniverse… creation world, what?"

"The Omniverse is theorized to be the true universe. It's like any other solar system, you have the center star, the planets, and their moons. The Omniverse is basically the whole solar system. The 'Core' is literally the center of _**everything.**_ This falls into things like the many different multiverses, alterations of the same universe, it's The Multiverse of all the Multiverses. The Icarea Mandala from what we've learned so far was more than just a cosmic system for Black Slime. It's like a shield that protects The Core and with it, Prime Earth as its center. Theorized to be the focal point of every universe's creation. One side makes the outcomes and it further expands on that while the outcomes can't get back in."

To say Cynder was dumbfounded by the scientist would be a inch off of being beyond an understatement. Even Johnson's teammates were wided eyed at what he just said. Sure they knew a great deal about the mandala, it's purpose and a bit of its function, but it was only as much as what the Aztecs knew about the universe. Very tiny amount.

"And… how do you know all this?" Jack asked. He was the third smartest member of the team and his senior officer just beat the hell out of him with space-technobabble.

"When Abby Yates joined us in 2017, me, her and Egon, while working out ways to build the Dimension Gate, began to hypothesis about how our dimensions corresponded with each other. For example, the Originals really did meet their cartoon amd female counterparts before meeting us."

"So it was just like the comics then?" Rachel asked.

Leo nodded, "It was literally writing their future. I know the comic follows the movies but they're not the same canon but still. _We_ as Ghostbusters has an effect on all their worlds."

"Now I know why you locked the three of you in the basement for 2 weeks…" Derek mumbled while resting his chin on his raised arm.

"Be as that maybe," Leo glanced at him before getting back in topic. "What the original question Derek asked is very important. The Mandala from what we've seen is meant to not let anything in. At most things can bleed through but not a direct shot to Earth or any world for that matter."

Derek then raised up a little, "Which leads to the next question, how did Malefor get the Black Slime? So far we've seen him literally reanimate every known creature the stuff makes since us being here. He's getting it from some kind of source."

Rachel asked, "Didn't he come from some side dimension? Isn't it possible he got it there?"

"If so then we need to cut him from drawing more and more power. He's already on par with Shandor, who knows what could come next or how powerful he'll become."

This left the 5 of them in thought. Both Leo and Jack started runnings mental calculations on how to even begin doing anything. Without the help of their other groups, more technological resources, even their own Dimension Gate they were up the creek without a paddle. They would have to double down on everything if they were to accomplish this.

Standing from his seat he turned to Jack, "We should get back to repairing the mega trap. If we can't capture Malefor in it then we can us it for more standard busting." with a nod the technician followed behind him back to the trailer.

"Well, I guess I should do what Spyro and the others are doing and turn in." Rachel said standing up and wiping any dust on her off. "You be okay out here?"

"I'll be fine." Derek answered with him holding his rifle up. Tempted to say anything otherwise, she turned and headed back to the trailer just as Leo and Jack disappeared inside. Leaving the last two beings out in the open with just the fire for company.

Cynder looked back up to Derek with a hint of concern. "Are you sure you should be on guard? If Malefor is targeting you than that could mean anything could come out of nowhere and kidnap you."

"Cynder," he stood up, using his left leg to tip over the log on its side. Moving down to the ground as he laid on the dirt with his back against the wood. "I've been through some crazy shit in my time. Am I worried about what Malefor has in store for me? A bit. Am I worried about him or some monster charging out of the forest into the campsite that has a Pke shield over the whole place? Not the slights bit."

Bringing his arms around to the back of his head he snuggled a bit into a more comfortable position. Letting his eyes fall shut as a deep breath came and went from his lungs. He wasn't being careless as what some might be thinking. It was just that instinct and the thing walking around inside his body told him otherwise.

Just as he felt himself let his body sink like a rock, he suddenly felt a puff of breath forcefully escape his lungs as he felt a new weight suddenly place itself on him. Snapping his eyes open he glances down to see the familiar silver horns and black scales. Cynder was just like your one loyal dog that would be right beside you. And now the dragon had done the exact same thing from Crystalline one this time laying her head on his stomach.

"Am I just your big teddy bear now?" he joked. "Like, seriously. I guess that one time counted as you just guarding me but this is a little much is it not?"

Cynder only rubbed a spot with her chin before letting the weight of her head sink in, "mmm… maybe. You just feel so warm and soft despite this suit and being all fleshy." And let that, she was out.

Derek's expression turned to a joking kind to a bit of confused, then defeated look. He tried to get up, but found that the sleeping dragon had literally put all her weight on him. At most he could sit up about 15 degrees before feeling a horn pointing through his suit. With sigh he leaned back against the rock. Staring into the orange glow that was hidden inside the camp fire.

* * *

"They are growing closer." Ignitus stated from his view in front of the mirror. Chronicler nodded in agreement. "And it seems to be progressing quite well for them all."

Ignitus looked back to the Chronicler with a more worried look. "Be as that might be. What lies again for them is not a pretty one."

Chronicler said nothing. Simply heading over to the same bubbling pot that he had been working on. Seeing the strange liquid seemingly mix itself in a clockwise spiral. He was becoming increasingly frustrated with this project. And he knew time was running short to complete it. The material was a blob of colors, black being the most dominant form with reds, greens and yellows everywhere. He tried testing samples of the slime with some potions and formulas to get the right balance to charge, but each one was resulted in only fizzling out like a dead fire cracker.

Though from the conversation the 5 had was still spinning around his head. He, the oldest living Chronicler in existence, as dumbfounded by a human who had just explained a theory unlike anything he heard before, and it dawned on him. From what Leo had said, there was no possible way that he could of brought the Ghostbusters to Avalar at all. This 'Mandala' was to prevent anything from coming in. And yet he effortlessly got both them and Ignitus through. Even the doorway that he brought them all through was still wide open. It truly puzzled him; a force far greater than anything in their world was now in play with what was happening. He did see what happened to his time freeze on Earth, it faded right when the last human was brought to his plane of existence.

"We know what is happening, who is in play with the lines almost completely drawn; and yet, there is still so many unknown variables in play that even we cannot fully prepare for what the future is holding for us all."

* * *

Despite being a much bigger story, and a bit older, at this point in story, Broken Reality would be complete. Weird…

Oh well, my fault for the rate of progress.

And to a reviewer, the whole story (with exceptions like in the chapter Flip City) is in the LoS world. If I made them go to Prime Earth it would mess up the timeline.


	31. Hidden By the Wind

Chapter 31: Hidden By the Wind

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

The night was quiet on this side of Avalar. The twin moons both shining, stars gleaming, a campfire gently crackling.

And Derek trying desperately to keep said fire going. Having to reach as far as he could to throw more material on. After about an hour Cynder had hit the level of sleep that once reached, would just _drop_ with gravity and become like an unmovable rock. And because of that, all 300+ pounds of her was sitting on his stomach. Making it incredibly hard to properly move to throw more wood on the fire. He glanced at his watch, having to carefully reach over his other arm to hit his light up button to see the time.

1:28 am.

Derek could feel his eyes roll as he could feel this night would be a long one. The weight wasn't uncomfortable, it was like a proton pack that if you were on your back it wouldn't be forced straight. Cynder wasn't metal and had a curves, meaning it wasn't like having a slab of concrete resting on his leg. He glanced down at the dragon, gently scratching the spot on top of her head that resulted in her rear leg to thump off the ground. He found out about this not even 15 minutes after the heavy sleep hit.

He needed to move, for the sake of his legs from falling asleep he needed to move.

Disconnecting his rifle, he tried scooting to the left. Moving his left leg out so that it too could pull him. Carefully grabbing the side if her head and chest he lifted her up just enough that he could feel his suit able to move. And like ripping a bandaid, he shifted away as he let her down onto the ground.

Standing back up he stretched out his cramped body. Feeling his muscles and bones crack and pop as each one made him let out a sigh of relief. But glancing down at the dragon, he looked at how she just kept together like a dog sitting on the ground with its head resting on its paws. Glancing over to the Ecto he could see the purple dragon's body through the cracked window; then back to Cynder.

An idea sparked in his mind, and with a crack of his fingers, approached the sleeping dragoness. Bending down as he carefully slid his hands under. Carefully lifting her into a position one would a medium sized to large sized dog to be carried.

It was difficult to say the least; having gotten so use to carrying nearly the same weight while running around for 7 years. You'd get use to the weight and gain strength from it. But with a sleeping dragon, it was a bit more complicated. Slowly making his way to Ecto-1, he headed for the back as he knew Spyro would be taking up the back seat. He figured on putting her in the back alongside the gurney. The rack used to haul four proton packs was empty of equipment as it was all in the trailer. So it was turned sideways and stored up against the wall for more space.

Switching Cynder to his left arm; quickly setting her on his knee to hold the weight as she was held like one would a sleeping child. Reaching over he quickly grabbed the handle and swung the door open. Spyro made no attempt to awaken from his slumber. Only twitching ever so slightly when over he took air in too quickly. Knowing to avoid disturbing him Derek repositioned Cynder so that she went head first. Pushing her further in he made sure that he didn't close the door on her tail blade or get something caught in the gurney.

Once she was fully in, he quietly reached for the door. Trying to avoid the squeak the hinges made as he closed it just enough that the locks clicked. Giving it a little more force as was fully closed now.

Without another thought he headed back to the fire. Noticing that the flames had gotten very low due to him not adding enough material. But because of them having to keep it going for hours, the stockpile was nothing more than a few broken off sticks and leafs. He could burn the logs he was using to sit on, but they would take to long for the fire to be hot enough to effectively burn it. Reaching down he picked his rifle off the dirt; turning as he headed for Ecto-4. The rest of the team was all hunkered in the trailer, with Roger sleeping in the truck incase they had to get moving on a moment's notice.

Pulling out the remote starter he unlocked the door, opening the driver's side back door as he searched through the back seat. With the light of the overhead led pad shining through the cab, he shuffled through the tools, parts and trash that had collected in the back. Hitting his hand off a shiny black handle, Derek pulled out one if their flash lights that they had an overabundance of. They usually kept them in the vehicles if emergencies ever happened in dark places.

Closing up the truck he started walking towards the pathway they used to get the vehicles in the clearing. Once he was at the edge of the shield, as in the moonlight he could see its purplish blue tint in the air, he switched on the light and proceeded through the dome. He knew he could of gotten branches from trees within the shield, it was a stupid move for him to be walking out of it at night with threats possibly nearby. But one thing he remembered was when he drove into the forest for some off site practicing. He saw that the forest had its own charm any way you looked at it.

With a military LED powered light beam, Derek set off into the woods.

* * *

During the time after Malefor attempted to control Derek, the realm from which the Ghostbusters were originally brought through from Earth was now heavily under guard. Celestial beings, the sizes of city blocks, floated about the vast plain around the Chronicler's dwelling. The large front door had since repaired to its original self but now with a purple aura covering its surface. Inside was no different. As the mess from the event had long been cleaned and organized.

Now the only beings that remained was the two dragons and Eon. All three were gathered around what Ignitus had now dubbed 'The Prime Codex' after hearing the humans speak about their world. Their conversation had struck something in their minds to look in deeper to the book. Each of the pages that dated back the past 8 years showed that what the Chronicler didn't wasn't uncommon, but how easily he did it.

Reading from another account of Derek falling through a portal with what the Ghostbusters referred as Shandor into a completely different world and suddenly, after what they counted was a 7 month time span, go back just to the very second before the portal and not remember anything. There were dozens of these accounts, each ranging completely different worlds of reality. Even some, despite being small in terms of scale, happening right in their world and then disappearing.

They all turned to Eon, who was now studying the book of its information. He knew how dimensional portals worked in and out. And that's without say of the Portal Masters from his reality being involved. Prime Earth as he saw it, had no possible chance of being broken through. Reality itself was a barrier acting against it.

"Well." he stroked his beard in thought, "It is an interesting read. However I'm afraid that I don't fully know the answer."

"How so?" Ignitus asked, hoping the man had some answer.

"As it be, if I was to their world and test a few theories, then it might get us a better picture. But as the book has stated, there are countless other worlds that tried breaking through and reality itself choosing which world it will allow through. As to why these humans are selected as they are is unknown. From what it says Derek seems to be the main focus at times. Sometimes with two others or his whole group. And whatever happened earlier I feel maybe the cause of it."

From his spot in front of the cauldron Chronicler spoke up, "Turn to page 489, Section L, Paragraphs 9 through 23."

With a flick of his staff the book spun its pages to the spoken place. As Eon began reading the section, Ignitus turned back to his mentor as he began pouring in a bright blue liquid from a bottle into the batch of slime.

"How goes the mixture?"

"It's nearly complete. However the time it will take to properly settle will be by the time the book says."

"It's strange what it says. They've used it many times before, and yet I'm the one to make it now. Strange how their world work."

Walking over to the mirror Ignitus tapped his claw against the surface. The reflection rippling until a new image of a city at night came into view. Seeing the activity made both dragons have to rethink some of their plans. When the stasis lock on the world broke, Chronicler thought would last indefinitely. But when he saw it only affected the 8 humans did he realize that the situation they caused on Earth was a sign from how they managed to find out.

"I still don't see why you just don't bring the others. It will vastly give them the edge they need, supply them with more man power at the same time and hold out much longer in battle. Isn't 30 better than 8?"

The Chronicler sighed. Ignitus was right, the numbers spoke. The 8 of them proved they could do a lot and to have 4 times that would currently speed things up. But he knew, for his centuries of wisdom, that wasn't meant to be. "You've seen what the pages of the book tells of. Even this very conversation speaks of it and why we can't not interfere with time."

"For ancestors sake! Look at what is already been done! First Malefor takes control of an unknown substance and bleeds in into the realms. Then monsters and ghosts start running amuck and we bring the humans in. So far, from what I found in their studies about the Black Slime, we've seen what they consider Category 2 level events. Even that army they fought in Crystalline was not even a Category 3. They labeled 8 so far, and say that there is the possibility of 9s, 10s, and even higher. From what it said, what Cynder went through was what they call a Class 5. Hell, Derek is even in it labeled a Class 8 because of-"

"A Demon." Both turn their heads to Eon as the portal master turned and stepped away from the codex. "A being of power that even before could rival Malefor himself and those beyond him. Trapped inside the body of a mortal human."

Chronicler nodded. "Thus why he now seeks Derek as his new host body yet still wants the young dragons. If he were to gain what is inside the human, and combine both himself, the demon, and possibly both Spyro and Cynder, he would become a true Dark Lord."

"And with control of the slime as is, he could easily overpower anything in the realms. He'll be unstoppable."

* * *

3:37.

That's what his watch said as he let go of the light button to see the display.

2 hours he had been walking around the forest down the path. Weaving around to find anything interesting. He was breaking his own rule about not having a Pke on him at all times, but it would further draw him into wanting to literally hunt any paranormal entity he found. To say this walk was relaxing wouldn't be true; if in times like these he'd be either out on night shift patrolling the Bronx or in the lab with Leo and the other teams' scientists coming up with a battle plan. Only this world made it just so hard to accomplish the basics. They had no other teams in other areas tracking activity. No real form of equipping themselves minus what they had in Sub-Space storage. The only reason they were running out of food despite each of their main packs holding a couple months supply of food was because they had dumped most of everything to check what was still good or not. Things did have a tendency of getting freezer burnt while in there for too long. And just being out gunned further drove it home. In a normal situation it would lead to crossing the streams on the right settings or having a Super Slammer trap whatever they were fighting. With Shandor they had time to prepare; weeks, even months before the big head himself showed up. They had everything upgraded, new things built, and had a huge force of man power to use it all.

Here they already used one card, it sorta worked but not fully intended. And having every ghost trap available suddenly being unuseable was a kick in the gut. Not all entities were just dispersible, they had to be captured to not be able to come back.

He glanced over to the moons, he even chuckled, it was a hard sight to see when in a city. Being all quiet he could actually hear his boots shuffle in and out of the dirt from each step. Even lightly kicking a pebble in the shrubs was a calming sound.

That was until the sound of the ting rock hitting off if something made the whole plant shake and rustle.

Stopping in his tracks he glanced over at the bushes from where the movement had come from. "Hello?" he slapped his hand over his mouth. Repeatedly telling how stupid he was of possibly drawing something to him.

There was another rustle, whipping in its direction he shined the flashlight on its general direction. Then it came from his right, and he snapped to it. Then back to his far left; it was like it was trying to circle him but each time he heard he he knew which direction it was coming from directly. Reaching over he pulled his rifle off its clip, holding it out as he activated the gun. The sound of the miniaturized particle accelerator was a welcomed sign as he slowly progressed forward. Keeping the light on the bushline as he crossed the pathway. Shining it through what patches were available, he saw nothing was there. The rustling happened again, further ahead of this time. Only it seemed like whatever was casing it was trying to run away.

Ignoring the rule about going solo, Derek pushes through the thick bushes as he followed the sound. It was harder to see in the trees as the moonlight could break their tops. He didn't have his goggles, and the flashlight was limited on where you point it as trees would block its beam from reaching far. He quickened his pace, determined to find out what the source was. Weaving around debris that had collected over time on the forest floor his pace was quickly decreased when a small clearing came into view. It was probably no larger than the footprint of a normal house; a large patch of grass mixed with some fallen trees and a few saplings still growing. Walking just out of the edge of the tree line his light panned over the area. A slight breeze could be felt blowing through his messy hair as now everything started to rustle and creak. The sky was showing signs of even a potential storm on the way.

But whatever was out there, Derek knew it wouldn't just run away because of a little rain. "I know you're out there. SHOW YOUR SELF!"

His voice was one the edge of taking on a dark tone. It wasn't like his 'Commander Tone' he would use to take charge or try not to show fear. The brush line that encircled the clearing rustled once more, spin around Derek could see something bleeding its way out of the trees. Stepping back further into the clearing with both light and gun raised up to met the direction the source was coming from.

The entity in front of him slowly materialized in the light as Derek held his gun close. The outline of a dragon was clear, it was bigger than the legendaries, but way smaller than the guardians. If anything it was maybe 2 feet taller than him. Large horns, tethered wings, and those yellow eyes were enough for Derek to take a step back and tighten his grip.

"Malefor."

" **Human."** his voice sounded as if a cold wind.

Derek didn't dare move, he knew it would be impossible for him to fight alone. His rifle was too weak for direct attacks but could cause some kind of a distraction so that he could run, but with the night and shadow dragon before him. Even his purple scaled body, which Derek assumed was more like a manifestation other than the dark lord himself. He waited for the moment something would happen; a swarm of ghosts surrounding him, a monster erupting from the ground or even Malefor trying to latch onto his body again.

Only after what seemed to be the right time to do so going by, Derek focused back to the one entity present.

" **Don't worry, human. Anything you think is a threat are not near. Except me.** "

" _My name is Derek_." he sternly said. Being called simply human was saying he had no identity. "And you better have a good reason why you decided to grow a pair of balls to come here." To drive this point home he flipped the handle forward. If he had been firing the capture stream would've locked on.

Seeing this action, Malefor let out a chuckle. " **Do you really think that little item can stop me? Being that it took 8 of you to have even a remote amount of magic to bring me down was all I need to know where limits are set.** "

"It's not magic. It's _science_. Something your world heavily lacks a understanding of."

" **Ah, yes. I remember that my previous teachers would go into what was at the time very little understanding.** " Moving to the side he began walking around Derek. Turning his body with the dragon to keep his aim and eye fully on him. " **But you have made it into a way no one has ever seen. Energy capable of destroying darkness. A substance that can revert those affected by its dark form. And even the capability to hold hundreds of my minions and use them as a power source. It is all very… fascinating. So how did you come with such a thing?** "

Derek arched a brow; this wasn't the dragon he was expecting to come face to face again. He couldn't tell if Malefor was trying to have a civil conversation or deceive him in telling him how the equipment worked. If he was able to figure it out then he could possibly find a way to counter or become immuned to it. It would be the end of their mission if they could deal any damage.

Lowering his thrower just a bit as he held the light in a more relax manner. But his guard remained high. "And pray tell, why would you want to know?"

Malefor stopped and looked directly into Derek's eyes. The yellow masses trying to pierce his brown shields that divided his reality to the soul. Seeing him fight back without really trying, known what actually was, Malefor chuckled. " **I like to know my enemy. So that I may prepare for the next time we meet. Just like you.** "

"How could you know anything about me? Up until a few days ago you didn't know we existed and thought Spyro got some weird new powers that can easily fight back your new minions."

" **Ah yes. The purple welp**." the dark lord rolled his tongue with the name. " **I knew he would be a threat to my return. That's why I sent so many creatures at him and his newly adopted sister Cynder. But from what I've gathered, you know that I can not fully exist without a proper form.** "

Derek nodded, bringing the theory they made about this situation back into the spotlight, " **If I had their bodies, combined them into a single form, I could retain a forms stronger than my original. That is…** "

"That is until you tried to attack me in my sleep."

" **Indeed. It was to take you to my realm so that I could lead your friends into looking for you while I moved forward. But when I entered your mind.** " He paused for a moment. Inhaling a deep breath and sighing as one would when doing something satisfying. " **So much raw power contained in a tiny form. Locked away as it merely awaits its time to break out. If only you were a dragon years ago. You would of made the perfect apprentice. More powerful than what levels Cynder could never reach.** "

"Yeah well, sorry to burst your bubble but that didn't happen."

" **Not yet it hasn't.** " he stopped in his walk and turned completely towards him. Stepping closer as the grin on his muzzle was enough to make Derek instinctively do a step back. " **I've seen but a glimpse of what power you have inside your body. A force that even I deem worthy to lead. To rule.** "

"What's your point?"

" **Join me. I can teach you how to unlock and control this power. Use it to its fullest and control everything. Never will you have to worry about your friends and loved ones be in danger, as you would have the power to protect them. Even return to your world and guide them down the right path."**

Derek could feel his inner demon thinking. For the few times they've directly talked to each other it was mostly a exchange in information. Derek could act, but this was to the Demon directly. He could feel it thinking over pros and cons, see it playing two different scenarios out, and shook its head mentally.

"Sorry, but I think I'll wait till when armageddon happens before I'll take up your offer." Gripping his rifle he grabbed both handles and readied to fire.

" **Very well then**." Malefor only said as his form collapsed into a cloud of shadows. The mass shrunk down at least a quarter of its size as it whipped back into the trees.

Derek did not dare go after him. Having a rock in the bottom of his gut tell him it was just the ghost taunting him to fall into a trap.

 _ **CRACK**_

Nearly jumping out of his boots he looked up to the source of the flash. The wind had quickly begun to pick up as the moon light faded behind lines of storm clouds rapidly expanding across the sky. He didn't know why, only that his body reacted before his mind did; spinning on his heels he turns completely running back to the path. Not caring what was in front of him he aims the rifle and fires; the stream quickly did easy work to the shrub in his path as in a downward slash he cuts a hole in the forest to the pathway. Feeling the first misty drops of what he could tell was a downpour ready to go he booked it back to camp.

Venting the cores he takes aim back at the sky; slowing his pace down to a steady walk as he fired two boson darts into the sky. He knew there was a small chance of anyone at camp seeing it, but he could only hope they get the warning.

* * *

With a sigh of relief, Spyro sluggishly made his way out of the bushes with a satisfied grin after answering nature's call.

Making his way back over to the Cadillac, he pulled open the passenger door and crawled his way back in. Using the tip of his tail to grab and close the door he paused for a moment, spinning around like a dog as he then faced the door he came from. Curling his wings and back legs up so that his body concealed them. His gaze shifted from what was outside to the black mass sleeping across from him. If it wasn't for him being use to feel the energy field the mass gave off, and the light off of a few pieces of equipment on the roof, he would of freaked out there was a monster in the car. Only he knew this mass wasn't a monster, but his friend Cynder.

He didn't know when or how she got in. He suspected she climbed through the rear door since she had most of the back to herself and she rarely tosses and turns. He didn't see Derek, but yet saw the fire still going. What he figured was that Derek must of gone to bed or look around. From the car's dashboard it said 3:30 when he got out. Reaching over, he gently brushed one of Cynder's out stretched claws. Flicking his side talon (basically his thumb) over the top back and forth. The reaction, despite not wanting to wake her, was a deep exhale from the dragoness. Retracting his arm back in front of him he settles his head right on them as his mind drift off back to sleep...

 _ **CRACK**_

Without a sound the purple reptile went from sleeping lizard to spooked cat. Quickly getting control of his heightened senses, Spyro glanced out the window in time to see a flash of lightning streak across the sky.

"Wow…" he shook his head, "Scared by lightning. Thank ancestors Volteer would talk up a storm about-" the moment hit him instantly. Shaking his head he placed a claw on his head in a facepalm. "Weather puns. At nearly 4 in the morning. Great job Spyro, Sparx would be be proud."

The second he finished his thought out loud, another crack echoed across the sky. Looking back to the sky just expecting to see another bolt. Only this time, he saw something red. He rubbed his eyes quickly to clear away the tiredness. He could see the red blobs of light flying straight in the air some distance.

"What the heck?"

He scratched his head. Just then 2 more went up, much closer this time. He surfed as mind, looking for the time of when he last saw something like that. And he did; back when they first met the team, Derek and the others all fired them in the air to locate themselves. The lack of Derek being present, the team all still in the trailer, and the energy beams being fired in rapid sessions, Spyro knew something was up.

" _Cynder_." He yelled/whispered. Gently but quickly shaking her arm. " _Cynder_!""

With no response, Spyro thought of another idea. Moving his tail over the driver's seat towards the steering to the very middle where the symbol of a horn was. Pushing it back with enough pressure needed he quickly stood back to avoid getting caught by the waking dragoness.

' _ **HOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN-'**_

Cynder's emerald eyes launched open; her body quickly standing in a alert position, but was hindered by the roof and limited space.

"Wha-What?!"

"Come on, Cynder!" Spyro opened the driver side door hoping out. "There's a problem."

Following her friend out, Cynder could feel the growing cool breeze from the incoming storm engulf the campsite. The guardians, all who were in a deep sleep, suddenly jolted awake nearly knocking each other's tents down. In a loud slam of metal the rear ramp of the trailer dropped down as 6 of the Ghostbusters came running out. Rapidly closing up their suits, locking their belts and strapping on their packs. Though Roger slowly made his way out of the semi.

"Alright who blew the horn!?" Rachel yelled as everyone grabbed their guns. Looking across the campsite to see Ecto-1 opened up.

Spyro explained, "It's Derek. There's something wrong. He wasn't around here when I looked and then saw two-"

 _ **CRACK**_

 _ **KCH-OOOOOOOMMMMMM**_

All eyes suddenly turned to the direction the large bolt of lightning reached down from the sky. Right as its light vanished, a red bolt of energy raced up in the air, cutting off at moments when it went into another random direction. From their position they could see a mass be suddenly lifted into air like someone tossing up a ball. It had to be Derek, for it was firing off a swarm of proton blasts, mostly towards the ground, in a fury as he tumbled in the air. Only that it was falling out of the sky; towards them.

"-aaaaaaaaaAAAAAHHHHH **HHHHHH**!"

Watching as a blue and black mass sailed over them, everyone quickly ran to try and catch the human. But their distance was not enough, as Derek landed hard against the dirt. Not straight down as to possibly break his arm, but enough to make him clear a tiny 5 foot long trench and fly back through the air. Knocking through the small fire as the disturbed embers flared up at the movement till he came to rest a few feet away.

"DEREK!" Rachel quickly ran over to her friend as the man slowly got to his side.

Using his rifle, which miraculous stayed within his death grip through the flight and fall, as a support as he turned to face the ground. Groaning in frustration at how beaten up he's ended up over the past several weeks. Running, literally jumping over the campfire, Rachel kneeled to the ground dropping her gun. Holding Derek by the back and chest as she slowly brought him up on his knees.

"Derek, Derek are you okay?" Feeling over his torso and arms she quickly began searching for any possible injuries. Only noting that the only visible damage was the dirt spots on his suit and one of his knee pads cracking.

Rubbing his head he got to his senses. "Soar. But alright."

From the group Cyril was the first to step forward and ask. "Derek, what happened? How did you-"

In a unholy roar that echoed for miles, Cyril suddenly shut his mouth and faced the direction the human came from. This sound was enough to make everyone be put on high alert; the guardians all running back to their tents as they frantically donned their armor again. Every detector the team had on them all whirled out high readings coming from the direction as something was

rapidly approaching with earth shaking steps.

Tapping into his elemental powers, Terrador scanned the ground like a sonar wave telling him where everything was to the earth. "Something large is coming, very large."

Priming their throwers the team focused in the direction Terrador was suggesting. Pulling his meter out Leo saw that the energy levels were rapidly growing. "Possible Class 6 or 7. _Very_ strong energy mass."

"Black Slime?" Volteer asked.

"Black Slime. But I've never seen a Pke mass build up like this before-"

 _ **ERRRRRRAAAAAA**_

Everyone tensed up as the tree line behind the barrier shook violently despite what the wind was going. The rain had finally come down on the area. The fire pit finally fizzling out as the moon light became obscured by thick clouds. Mike switched on his pack's spot light, shining it in the direction of the disturbance. What everyone saw was what could be considered the blackest wolf they've ever seen. Its body perfectly out lined on the forest wall as the only things breaking the dark mass was 2 solid blood red eyes. It growled out, loud enough for everyone to clearly hear, like it had just cornered its prey.

"A wolf?" Danny asked in surprise. Surprised that it wasn't something like a Screecher or Abomination. "That thing is barely bigger than Hank. A single shot could-"

A blood curling scream erupted from the entity. Its body rapidly growing in size quickly losing the wolf form as it formed into a massive blob with several smaller limbs just barely holding pyt and dragging its now massive body. It quickly picked up in speed; moving at a surprising pace as it literally charged at the dome. The team knew what would happen; with the Disrupters running on literally 100% with a fully loaded storage facility for power, the odds of anything breaking through would mean that the equipment was faulty or it had Class 12 strength. It would get shocked in a way that Thor himself would cringe.

However, not this.

As it leaped into the air, its body clearing 12 feet easy as it forced all its mass forward. The shield violently crackled with purple energy as it quickly began rebuilding itself. Now with everyone inside the dome with the monster.

To surprise the Ghostbusters, it takes a lot of variables to be in play. For the other franchises, it would be considered shocking. But for the Protonix group, it would be like putting a little hand flag all the way up a 24 foot pole.

This just made that go to 25.

It reared back, roaring as it charged at them. Immediately the team all fired, the proton streams striking across its face as it slowed down a little but only a fraction. The group quickly began backpedaling as in a swipe of its limb made Roger and Leo be sent flying back. Mike quickly ducked under another attack as he swapped modes. Correcting himself as he peppered it with overload bolts. This move was in vain, as when it reared back to pouce him, a literal wave of rock roared passed him engulfing the monster. Roaring out as rock dragged the creature towards the tree line smashing it down like a crashing wave on a cliff side. Spyro quickly jumped forward, flying into the air as hs brought forth his fire breath and unleashed it on the remaining stone. In seconds the rocks disintegrated into a liquid state as it pooled around the creature.

Focusing their fire, the humans carefully came closer, minding not to cross the streams, as they slowly got closer to the entity, pushing it further to the dome. But despite having difficulty fighting back the force the streams generated, everyone had taking a quick glance at their thrower's pie charts. The 10 piece display that showed a entity's Pke energy level had barely chipped two pieces. Noticing this, they fired a session of bosons, in this formation with streams at half power, 8 simultaneous darts would bring most entities and monsters into the red or mostly yellow range.

Once the blasts made contact, everyone had half expected to easily get a capture stream on it.

Only that it dropped just two units.

"The packs aren't doing anything against it!" Roger yelled firing another dart.

Leo too saw this, "It's too much negative energy. The particle throwers won't be capable of cracking through it."

"Then switch out your nozzle and hose it down!" Mike ordered. Immediately everyone swapped mosts and sprayed the creature.

With only his rifle, Derek quickly fired 2 m9re Bosons before running back to the truck. Dashing up the ramp he almost ran into his bike as he hot to the storage cases. His pack was the only one left other than the Boson Pack and Slime Blower. But seeing that conventional fire power wasn't the best option, he went with the best option. Pulling out the drawer holding the blower he pulled the blue tinted glass cover as he yanked it off the hooks.

Strapping the vest tightly to him he gripped the nozzle handled tightly. But before he turned to leave, he glanced back at the bottom shelves that contained other tools. Opening the second drawer, the one where they housed Proton Grenades and Stasis Mines (if they had any) he plucked two of their remaining 'nades and finally run back out.

Just in time to see Terrador go sailing across the campsite into the tree line with a heavy _THUD._ His team had quickly scattered apart trying to arch their streams so that they could continue sliming the entity. But with its random movements and attacks it made it hard for them to keep long enough shot. Cyril and Volteer were tag teaming against it; the Ice dragon going in to freeze parts of it's body letting the other shock what was exposed. With it distracted by the other it began to grow increasingly random.

Spyro himself had to keep a distance from getting slashed by one of the whip like tentacles that tried to cut anyone within reach in half. Throwing what looked like his equivalent of Boson Darts in the form of highly concentrated blasts of fire plasma. Having only enough strength to fire 3 before quickly letting out a small ice storm to cool down. Cynder on the other hand was using a more practical approach; summoning a swarm of shadows spears around her as they shot forward impaling the creature with only the places under heavy attack. But because of whatever the creature was made of, the spears impaled it completely through embedding themselves into the ground. Locking the entity further as slime and ice pounded all around it.

Twisting the tops of the grenades, Derek hits both of them off his chest triggering the activation.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Throwing both bombs as hard as he could, the two devices tumbled in the air as everyone made sure to keep a distance.

The first bomb landed on the ground rolling near its underside as the other, from a much higher arch, collided with the entity landing on its back. Cyril took the opportunity, and froze the bomb with a thin layer of ice to prevent it from rolling. The entity tried to get away from the one device it saw on the ground, oblivious to the second aa within a second both bombs went off.

The first blast made the whole creature rear up from its ements force as the second obliterated its backside. Ripping holes across its body as ice shards were sent flying everywhere. Hollowing as it felt its body collapse onto the ground. Mustering any strength it made an attempt to flee back into the woods. Heading straight for the Pke Shield.

They knew the Disrupters would prevent any entity inside from breaking in or escaping. But after seeing it literally jump through the shield, weakened, but intact, they watched closely as it reverted into a wolf shaped mass. Only when it got to the barrier, it didn't dissolve. In fact, it actually seemed to stand taller, as if it was being removed of all its injuries. Its red eyes brightly flashed as it turned back towards the group. Facing the sky as it let out a loud, dominating howl.

Jack quickly pulled out his Pke to see what was going on. The entity was at a low level of health, but now it was rapidly regaining that loss and growing stronger.

"It's drawing power off the disrupters!"

"How is that possible?" Ben yelled. He wasn't one for the science of 'busting, but knew enough that it was bad.

"I don't know. But the best chance we have is keeping it away from the Ectos!"

Grabbing his rifle Derek quickly put a capture stream on it. Ben and Roger both doing the same as everyone returned fire. The trio, with their streams locked on it, were easily overwhelmed by the entity thrashing around trying to break off the hold. Derek was the first to lose his hold; his rifle ending up cutting the stream as it couldn't maintain the off put the entity was making. Venting and turning up the power, he fired again joining the two back. Only it was hard just to keep it still. As with the three of them alone it still could move around and nearly attack the others. In a single hard slam they held it close to the ground.

Just out of the circle the 3 men had made, Spyro lowered his head so that the top of his two main horns faced forwards like a goat getting ready to charge. And charge he did. Using his wings as a springboard himself, he ran straight at the creature as his fire began seeping from his maw. Engulfing the top of his head like a spaceship coming into reentry he let put a rage induced roar as he charged passed Ben. Lifting his head and horns up at the very last inch of impact.

Taking the full brunt of the impact while being held down by the streams the monster howled in agony as it was sent flying up. Cynder quickly took her shot; flying up as she reared back and unleashed a acid cloud covering the creature. Doing a front flip to gain more altitude, she focuses her shadow element through her body making all the white horns on her give off a faint pink glow as she twisted around whipping her tail out. She couldn't make direct contact due to her elements and the streams, but was all 3 coils spread apart briefly she slashed it out across its back. Spraying more acid onto the visible wound as a pink scar.

Suddenly the sound of thundering steps engulfed the area; making the three men cut their attack as to let the monster go and vent put the heat. The stomps belonged to the earth guardian Terrador as he came charging forward. In his grasp was a stone shield 12 feet across with a chunk on the top left cut out in a perfect circle. Doing his own battle cry he came at the creature like a freight train jumping up into the air, spin around, and bring the shield below him. Using his large weight in tandem with gravity, he was like a boot stepping over a wad of gum as he squashed the entity before rolling away. Letting the shield drop as it crumbled back into segments of rock.

With little time to regain its senses back, Volteer and Cyril followed their brother's lead. Channeling their elements through their armor, both adopting a phased glow of blue and yellow light over them, as both charged.

Seeing this the monster prepared itself for the attacks, but was suddenly overtaken by the sudden bombardment from all around it. All the Ghostbusters had switched up to slime blower as even Spyro was letting out a steady stream of lightning into Leo's protonix pack, making the stream of goo have a almost blue coloration. The only proton stream out of the 8 of them came from Derek as he held it both out along with keeping one hand on the blower's flow valve. Cynder stood between both him and Roger letting out a concentrated mist of acid that bathed the area in a green glow that raised up naturally into the air.

With it distracted, the Ice and Lightning dragons took their chance. Cyril bent down sending blasts of ice over his front feet coating them in blocks of ice. Stretching his talons apart the blocks instantly crack, jumping up briefly Cyril stomps both his claws down further shattering the ice. Only now that there was still a layer of ice covering him like his armor with his claws now extended by large shards of ice. Leaping into the air Cyril stuck his claws out like a cat about to attack. Smashing down the shards he started racking at the creature, making sure to avoid its own slashes as even the ice was able to cut off one limb in a swift move. But on a downward hit, the monster reformed its body as it grabbed the dragon's limb. Crushing the ice claws as it applied more pressure to break the ice to get to the scales and skin. Cyril struggle to break free, throwing his free limb to stab the creature, but it too was caught by his wrist. Holding him in place as it spread him apart a new formation rose from the slime. This time looking like a long thin spike that hardened as it got closer to his chest.

 _ **C-WAMMMMMMM**_

A bolt of electricity flashed by destroying the three limbs releasing the ice dragon. Roaring out at losing its prey, the monster didn't have time to react when a mass of energy slammed up side its body. Volteer quickly followed up on his attack as he spun around delivering another punch to the entity. His tail coated with energy had a large mace like ball of lightning that he used as a club on each hit. The monster, on dodging to the right to avoid a hit, gained its footing as it tried to jump on his back.

Only for another ball of fire to knock it out of the air mid jump and send it flying into the dome. Making it brittle with positive energy as it collapsed into a smoking heap. The 13 of them all slowly walked towards the monster with guns raised and elements at the ready. Hoping to see that it had the last of its energy sucked out of it.

Only to prove them wrong when some of its larger limbs started to heal back up and drag its body up right again.

"UGH, This thing just won't stay down!" Spyro yelled in frustration.

Derek too shared his frustration. Even still feeling the soreness across his body still be present. "That's it. Set power levels to 7 and cross the streams on low impulse!" he shouted.

Reaching over to the side dials everyone quickly calibrated their guns. Slowly bringing them together as the streams began to overlap and merge into a mega stream. The dragons formed their own version of the stream. The guardians standing behind them as all 3 let out massive storms of pure elemental power. The white ice, electric blue, and green earth all collided over the stream as the monster tried to fit back both forces. It's body was rapidly deforming and bubbling, like a ball of tar growing in size before it bursts. The purple and black dragons both dropped to the ground; one standing at the ends of the line as the addition of Fire Fury and Acid Cloud joined in.

It was too much. Its Pke energy was dropping faster than a lead weight in water. Its body was being drilled and ripped apart at 4 different spots from the attacks and tried focusing its strength into them. But its form collapsed to the ground as its limbs disintegrated into puddles of slime.

In a final cry out of agony, its body glowed a familiar red shade that came with black slime as it rapidly expanded, and exploded. Ceasing their attacks they quickly turn away to shield themselves from the blast. Everyone watched as bits and pieces of ectoplasmic material came down with the down pour.

"Leo." Derek called wiping some goo off his rifle.

"Yes Derek?"

"Did what just happen remind you of anything?"

"More Specifically?"

"Say 6 years ago at a coal mine."

Leo pondered this for a good second. Looking back to the time Derek was referring to. Then it hit him. "Oh yeah, the first black slime monster we encountered at the coal mine. Still can't believe that idea worked."

"Hey, sometimes crazy works."

 _ **Crack**_

Whipping around everyone turned to the direction the new source was coming from. The legendaries stood firmly in front of the 8 humans as all pointed in a arch at the trees as the 3 guardians stood tall behind them all. Everyone had their attacks at the very edge of being released like a sneeze on the tip of their nose.

The vegetation shook more and more, until the plants in front of them were stomped down by… a mole. A armour cladded mole with a spear 3 times his height. Quickly about a dozen more came slicing from the bushes. What followed behind further made them relax; at least eight dragons, six earth, one fire and one electric, were all making fast work on the forest. A tunnel had been practically curved out of the forest with a path wide enough to possible fit 2 guardians walking side by side.

"Axis!" Terrador called out in surprise on seeing the lead mole. "How did you find us?"

"Well," he readjusted his helmet so that he could look up to the dragon, "We got word of your return from Crystalline but you didn't arrive 2 days ago as expected. We gathered a small group to head towards the old paths. But the reason why, as to how we found you was because of the signal the Ghostbusters shot up, as it kinda helped narrow down your location, plus the light show and loud sounds, was because there's a situation at Warfang."

"And that is?"

"Half the city is destroyed and were rapidly losing a hold.

Terrador's eyes seemed to explode out of his eyes. " _ **WHAT!?"**_

"It started just a day ago, there were reports of activity around the surrounding area so he did our best to prepare ourselves. Seeing as how we're not properly equipped to fight spirits, we gathered all the electric dragons we could, seeing as how lightning as some effect, and set up a defense. It all happened at once. Walls 1 through 7 were immediately breached, 8 to 10 are heavily damaged but standing, 11 and 12 are holding back any stragglers. But our situation is right now rapidly falling. We were lucky to even make it out of the city to try and find you."

Derek stepped forward, "What's the current status?"

The mole looked at the human into the eyes, "At the rate it's going... the city will be gone by morning."

"Roger! Get in the air, _pronto!_ Spyro, Cynder, you and the guardians get to Warfang as soon as possible." Derek ordered his pilot

Running to the trailer he quickly unbuckled the blower. Swapping out for his Protonix Pack as he came out carrying it by the strap frame. "We'll try to keep up." he said addressing his team.

The purple and black dragons were about to protest, wanting to say they needed to stay together, until 3 sets of wings leaving the ground caught their attention. The guardians were already packed and rapidly climbing into the air in the direction of the city. The two dragons looked to each other, then back to the team, only to both see Roger and Derek climbing into the helicopter, Ecto 1 and 4 racing off into the forest with lights and siren on as several moles latched onto the cars to get to their destination. Leo positioned the truck to follow as 2 honks from the horn signaled the dragons to follow. Some taking off into the air after the guardians as some jumped up onto the trailer. The howling wind from the rotors soon engulfed the area at full blast overcoming the storm as the Ecto-2's underbelly lights flashed on as it too disappeared passed the tree tops.

Spyro looked back to Cynder who had a mirroring look of worry. "Come on, we got to catch up."

Spreading his wings he gave one hard flap before taking off. Cynder, pausing a moment think what lies upon them waiting in the city, spreads her wings and follows just a few yards behind. Glancing back only once to see the semi blaring its horn as it drove off.

* * *

 **I don't know if I said this before,so if so I'll say it again, but almost half the stuff about everything pre-dating this story is broken. As in it's not canon to what originally happened before. As such in Broken Reality I'm including everything possible to have a complete universe and not have ideas I could of added just be deleted. As such this story will evolve into more like what Broken Reality is and go into more direct detail other than what is generally told. Just as the scene at the camp wasn't originally part of the plan I had but I added it as it would give more to what's happening elsewhere during the situation.**

 **Also work on this story is fairly slow because of its size and the desire to get Broken Reality done sooner as it will be the foundation for this story presently and later on as well as other canon and crossovers.**

 **The Category scale is based on the terms of scale an event happens. This is comprised on what the majority of Pke levels are measured. All throughout Broken Reality and most of Shadows of the Past are Category 1 because it was still low level activity despite having Class 5s and 6s in a massive amount. Ghost Lord would be a Category 3 would involve massive clusters of Pke energy all channeled to a central focus. (So the whole video game would be considered a Cat 3 event.) Category 6 would be like Infestation. Anything Category 7 and higher would mostly involve other dimensional realms.**

 **Hank is a offset character to the Protonix Ghostbusters Universe as he is a multi-realm singularity. He's a Hell Hound that is similar to Zuul and Vinz Clortho but stands around 7 feet tall, has more of a gorilla poster, is a shade of dark gray with red and green veins covering parts of his body. He was a character I introduced when I was using the PGB in part of a role play and has 6 other direct siblings and has known the PGB for years. His main trait is that he is a extreme addict of cake.**

 **And now making all A/Ns in** _ **bold**_ **now.**


	32. City Under Siege

Chapter 32: City Under Siege

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

 **So this story seems to be more popular than Broken Reality, which I find odd yet sad. But I'm happy this simple thought is still getting recognition.**

 **Moving on, this story is shaping up to still be around 90 chapters :I Which will put this as a three year project, something that will take too long. So now, like what I'm doing for all my stories, is mashing chapters into one large one at a time to make it manageable and yet be done sooner. This chapter itself will be comprised of at least 2 ½ of other** **chapters. I'm hoping to drop the count to at least 60.**

* * *

"How far are we from the city?" Derek asked leaning out of the side door of Ecto-2. Carefully holding onto the handle as he glanced at the world below through his goggles.

Holding a his free hand, which was originally trying to keep him from having his equipment fall face first out of the chopper, reached up to the dial on his goggles. Zooming the lens to have the normal 3 colored rings and green screen closer to the ground. He could see the different masses of activity moving its way like a living fog back through the trees. Pke spikes ranging from Class 1s to 6s, he could've sworn he saw a Class 7 or 8 Abominations clearing paths through the forest that was followed by whole groups of entities. Some ranging different forms of black slime ghosts, others, looked like different versions of the apes he first encountered when they came here. That group was the only thing he, or any of them had encountered until facing Malefor. This was a literal ghost army marching its way to dragon city.

Roger, being the ace pilot he was, made sure to stay on scope and monitor the skies around them while fighting against the storm. "3 miles out. See that big smoke cloud?"

Looking forward Derek indeed saw the smoke rising up into the stormy night. It was just over a few hills before Warfang would be visible. Pulling his goggles up over his wet hair, he sighed. Reaching over to his rifle as he slowly turned the strength knob to a higher level. But thinking it over, the way the mole said it was as like the gates of Hell were about to break open right in the middle of a city. It would be like New York all over again. And he knew just his pack and rifle would cut it.

"Roger?" the pilot looked over his shoulder, "Do we have any proton grenades in here?'

"Bottom right compartment."

Leaning over Derek reached out disconnecting the latch to the drawer. Inside was a pile of small belt devices, and three sets of particle grenades. The reason behind this being that Danny and Ben would literally drop boxes of armed ones on large clusters of entities acting like a dozen boson darts at once. Taking two straps, as they each had three bombs each, he looped them through his Alice frame so that they were more towards the center of his chest as to being across. Taking the third one, he shortened the length down and looped it around his waist just above his belt. Breathing deeply a few times to make sure he doesn't cut off airflow to his lower body.

"Roger, I want you on air support." he said pulling his battery gloves off his belt. "Get to the 8th, 9th and 10th wall and bombard anything not a live trying to get through. We're gonna have to skip the 'avoid collateral damage' policy and go full proton charge."

"What about the guardians and the others?"

Reaching back in the drawer Derek fished around. Weaving his hand around till it brushed against what he needed. A pair of black wireless Savox single side headphones. The same kind the military used; it is fairly old, all of them since 2016, but after modifications made they last. Being made wireless and having a 4 inch antenna increased its range by 3 miles. Making it affected when the team would be spread thin around the city.

Strapping it into his thick hair he held in the power button till a audio cable 'click' indicated a successful power up and link.

"Ecto-2 to convoy, how you guys holding up down there?"

" _Walking on sunshine, Derek…_ " Mike replied as the sound of gunfire and roaring went into his ear like a broken record.

Leo then connected in, " _We're encountering resistance on our way. The path the squad made is decent but it's getting swarmed all around. So far we're making progress but we might be delayed._ "

"Me, Roger, and the dragons are about 2 miles from the city. How far back are you guys?"

" _According to our trackers, still half a mile behind. But don't wait on us, we'll try to get there and help once we get a cleared path._ "

"Copy that. Keep all channels open and update me once you reach the city limits. Be careful out there guys."

"Derek, we're coming up on Warfang now."

Leaning back put the door, Derek didn't need to use his goggles to see the chaos ensuing. The main wall that bordered the city was completely overrun by creatures effortless bounding over the wall into the streets. The various 'mini' walls that made the city the maze it was were either collapsed or set ablaze by a inferno with the 8th wall looking like a dam ready to burst. The temple itself, while visible damage could be told from the smoke in some areas, was still thankfully standing.

"Terrador!" he yelled to the earth dragon.

The large green and brown guardian carefully came up beside the chopper with Volteer and Cyril flanking his right.

"I hope you have a plan!"

"That's still in development. Listen, you three and the others, get to the inner walls. Your citizens need you. Me and others will try and keep Wall 8 up and push out. I'll be on ground cover trying to find anyone and get them to safety. If this place has any form of defenses, get them up and going."

The dragon nodded as he and his group increased their speed. Slowly going passed the helicopter as they climbed into the sky. Roger knew this tactic; disappear in the storm and come out right above the city center to avoid detection from the enemy. It would be a only the two of them to go straight in, since if the hunch he was thinking about the ape ghosts was correct, then the sight of the chopper would be overlooked.

* * *

A half a mile behind them, the convoy of vehicles were in a more complicated situation.

"KEEP MOVING!" Axis yelled as he sliced- * _ **SLICK**_ *- a undead ape in half with his sword. "WE GOT TO GET TO THE CITY!"

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" Danny yelled as he stood on the back of Ecto-4 firing away the cannon. Spinning it on its mount to face a charging monster that was quickly torn apart by the rapid fire of meson particles. The monster was not completely down yet, it still trying to drag itself across the ground, until two slabs of earth suddenly popped on either side of it and clap them together. Smashing it into small goo balls as it was finally killed.

The remains however, were simply run over by the oncoming vehicles. Traveling at 40 mph, they going a lot faster than the search party. But with dozens of creatures everywhere, it was slow progress. Ecto-4 acted as the 'flagship' in leading the charge. Clearing a path while moving down ghosts. Behind it was the squadron of soldiers, hacking and slicing at anything as they ran by to keep up. Several had resulted in holding onto the side railing of the cars to their swords to simply keep anything from getting close. Two had found it interesting to be on 4MC's push bar with either spears pointed forward. Making literal shish kebab out of already a couple of entities that were then peeled off and sucked down under the wheels.

Right behind them, Rachel and Jack both were in Ecto-1 firing their packs out the windows. Jack had decided on using a proton pistol more than his thrower in order to keep driving right. Rachel on the other hand was leaning as far out as she could, as the seat was set down to allow room for her protonix pack, to unleash plasma hell on almost everything.

Following just a few yards back, Ecto-7 was easily covering ground, with Leo holding out the Shock Gun as he drove the semi with Mike literally halfway out the door firing his pack's slime blower. Spraying the front of the truck to destroy any black slime that could reform.

"Jesus Christ, there's so many of them!" he shouted having to let up on attacking to let his pack cool down.

"That entity back at the camp," Leo started, but had to quickly focus back to driving as he spun the wheel to the right. Following the other vehicles in avoiding a collapsed chunk of forest. "Must of been part of the attack. It was most likely a distraction to keep us busy."

"Well it sure as hell worked!"

" _Watch it people!_ " Ben's voice yelled from the radio, " _Pke's are tracking some big guys coming up. We got more monsters and maybe Abom- *_ _ **K-WHAM**_ _* -inations._ "

Then Rachel's voice came through, " _Also be noted, Ecto-4 may need a new windshield and passenger door._ "

* * *

The legendaries looked on in sadness of the condition of their home. It looked so much like what had happened years ago that made them feel the spark of anger building in them.

"Spyro…"

"I know, Cynder…"

"There's so many of them. It's like it's literally Malefor's whole army is here."

As the group came closer to the temple, the hordes of citizens pouring through the main gate was like river after a dam had burst. Easing up on their forward drive, the guardians began falling towards the ground. The whole group following after as they broke passed the storm clouds and smoke plums. Landing with a heavy thud that sent every little Rock around him in the air for a second; standing tall and stoic as his mind instantly went into General mode. One would see when this happened, his eyes staying at a distant glance watching everything around him but he alert of what was right in front of him.

Just as the two other dragons landed, another came running up from the crowd towards the earth dragon. He was the same element as Terrador, being one of his former students, dawning a 3 different shades of light and dark gray. His body was, and where he got his name, heavily padded like rock was merged into his scales as they went down to his stomach. Standing in front of the guardian he gave him a salute.

"Bedrock, what's the current status of evacuation?"

The dragon dropped his salute, " Not good, sir. They came fast, faster than what patrol scouts could see. We were so caught off guard by the sheer number coming at us we had to lock down all the gates to try and hold them back. As you can see, it wasn't the best plan for the time."

"What is the count on injured and casualties?"

The dragon bowed his head, "67, sir. All from within the loss of the main wall and into 5, most injured came from the same area with others from the more inner walls. Our medical wing is already at capacity and we're redirecting citizens to the underground chambers. Any one capable of fighting is already being assigned into groups and being sent to hold the inner walls."

"Look!" someone shouted pointing first the sky. Turning around they all waited to see either a monster or fireball heading their way. Instead, in the distance, they saw a flashing mass of lights come over the city streets and hovered for a moment. Slowly descending from their view as the walls abstracted it.

Turning back to Bedrock, Terrador know from Crystalline it would be a challenge as it was going to shape up to be to clear out the streets. "Bring every dragon with lightning that can fight. The Ghostbusters are going to need as much help as possible. Their leader is here, but the rest and a squadron of soldiers are still out if the city limits. We need to buy them time to get here and start clearing out this pest infestation."

"Right away, sir!" Bedrock dashed over to tell of the new orders.

"Cyril," the ice dragon turned to his earthy comrade, "Get to the infirmary. Tend to anyone that can get healed with crystals and get back to the fight. Volteer I need you to-"

"Actually, Terrador. I feel as though my presence is best here. I do possess an elemental advantage as we have seen." to further his point, the lightning guardian whipped his tail over to where they had dumped their traveling supplies. Curling the end around his lightning armor set as within contact from a little charge he provided started to form its way up his body.

Seeing his brother covered up in his still scratched up armor, a few dragons, mostly teens that were boarding almost completing their learning start to gather around him.

"Just… be careful. We don't want any more casualties as is."

With a grin and nod, Volteer and his group leaped into the air. Flying over Terrador as they looped around to the back side of the temple. Mentally praying that they have a safe time.

"Spyro, I suggest you and Cynder go and find-" Once he had turned in the direction of where he last saw the two dragons, he looked at the empty space for a fraction of a second before darting his head to every possible direction. "WHERE THE HELL ARE THOSE TWO?!"

On the opposite side of the city to where Roger was, Spyro and Cynder were already doing what they liked to do.

Laying utter decimation to the enemy.

"ON YOUR RIGHT!" Cynder shot forward. Her front claws flicking out your their fullest length as in seconds grasped the head of a disfigured troll and made it 2 feet shorter. The neck spurts a little burst of green goo as it collapses to its knees and stomach. Swooping around Cynder elegantly flipped and landed behind it.

Just in time to see Spyro get sprayed with slime from the falling mass. He had been dealing with more ground based creatures, the troll came out nowhere intended to crush him, but now he stood still with his entire front half now green. Bring his tail up he swiftly flicked a blob of slime off his right eye.

"Thanks, Cynder… That was _exactly_ what I just needed."

She giggled at his deadpan face, "Well _sorry_ mister hero boy. Would you've prefer the closeness of the dirt over this or na?"

Seeing that one snarky grin just wanting to break out for his answer, he knew he would lose that battle either way he took it. Spitting out some extra goo that was starting to drip over his maw, he quickly shakes off the slime sending it flying everywhere. Unfortunately for Cynder, it was further than she preferred.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" She cried as some blobs hit her. Thankful that the substance was deadly like it's black counterpart. Only just a mess to clean up afterwards.

Flicking off the small blobs, Cynder jumped over the dead creature to join back up beside Spyro, "Well this has been a bit lame." she motioned to the mess around them.

It had only been 8 minutes since they left to help fight in the streets; being that Spyro used a massive fire ball to completely clear out a entire city block of any creatures that was in the landing site. Any unfortunately bastard still within range was introduced to the fog from hell mixed in with a fast and violet mini-twister that made rapid work against any physical monster or entity. When the smoke and fog cleared, the two dragons found themselves in the following situation: about 5 dozen creatures, 41 ghosts, 6 monsters, 2 whole squads of apes and ' _other'_ entities.

Suffice to say, they knew that if the Ghostbusters were here, they would be proud.

They had decided on one plan; divide and conquer.

Cynder started the playing field; jumping in the air some 16 feet and warped into in nothing but a green cloud, utilizing her shadow with acid, she quickly coated the surrounding area with a thick layer of liquid that sizzled in the downpour. Spyro added a little heat to this, spewing out clouds of fire that further made the toxic substance more deadly.

Creatures like the apes knew to stay clear. Having most likely being the stupid ones to have it happen before when they were 'alive' at one point. Others, just as the slime creatures, paid no heed to the obstacle and simply charged forward. The effects taking only moments upon first contact melted way the creature's more physical parts. Causing them to fall face first into to substance. With the more challenging problems out of the way, the two both leaped over in blurring speed at the ghosts; Spyro homing into his lightning powers as the first ghost in front of him blew up into a cloud of embers and sparks. He charged forward smashing his horns into another, flipping it over to his left into 4 of his comrades. When about 9 of them tried circling him, staying in the air but close to the ground to block and possible escape, the purple dragon refocused his elements. Firmly planting his feet into the broken stone ground as green energy circled him. Suddenly, to the apes surprise, a pillar of rock erupted out of the ground with the dragon standing on top.

With their confusing, the group didn't have time to see Cynder come by in her shadow form wrap around them and grab each one by their heads. Tossing them in the air where it was literally ducking hunting with Spyro blasting each on with a little spit of electricity. Once the 9 were taking care off, a stomach turing roar came from the horde. Another monster, this one looking like a giant bear merged with a troll combined in a frankenstein-zombie like creature came charging on all 5 limps. Shattering the pillar with ease as the dragons split up.

Spyro stayed to the ground; using earth and lightning to his advantage. He dealt with the more solid creatures, using massive earth like claws to latch their legs to the ground. Once they weren't capable of moving, the dragon ran right up to them at full speed blasting them point blank in either the chest or head. Ripping them apart like a frag grenade inside a cardboard box. Effectively killing them once more as they dissolved into either blobs of goo or rotting corpses.

Cynder took on the more ghostly foes; she shadow element making the odds more into her favor to swiftly dodge attacks with a more cut and run style of hits. The apes that were ghosts were her first targets, being that they actually possessed weapons infused with supernatural strength. Dark forces was more her department than Spyro, thus with a little wind for boost and spraying acid in front of her and her claws, she swiped at each entity with fury. Just watching the beings that both were her slaves and torturers now, even in the afterlife, be utterly slaughtered by her might. One entity, a much larger ape that had the looks of a mutant slime monster, with a large chain with double hooks spinning above its head stood/floated tall and proud.

Seeing the challenge, Cynder shifted her body into a more phantom like state with her physical form taking shape as her tail, legs and the ends of her wings were a murky purple and black mass.

' _ **Cynder…'**_ It whispered/hissed, ' _ **Lord Malefor sends his regards in the retrieval of your dead hu-!'**_

Cynder decided on one thing, to end this creature before it could finish its monologue. Rolling her eyes she swiftly blink in front of it, then away.

A flash of green came from its eyes before the rattling of chains slipping from its grasp whizzed by falling to the ground. In a moment that other could only utter one word it groaned before it's whole body became nothing but smithers.

"Dumbass," Cynder shook her head, "No matter where or when, even when dead, they still are _this_ stupid." Reverting back into full shadow she went back to the usually business.

Thus returning back to the moment after the troll attempted to attack the legendary purple dragon. Once the body was engulfed by acid courtesy of Cynder, the two stood back to take in their work. "Wow what a mess." Cynder said looking at the slimy mess around them.

Spyro nodded, "I feel bad for the poor guy who has to clean this all up." He thought about it for a moment. A single mole dressed in a apron, gloves, holding a broom and shovel with a bucket bigger than him standing at the end of the street sighing in displeasure.

 _ ***CH-OOOOM***_

A loud crack echoed across the sky like thunder. They snapped towards the source, looking to the ten o'clock position to see two large streams of light rain down onto the streets from above.

"Looks like Roger's already clearing out the streets." Spyro said seeing the flashing underbelly lights of the aircraft.

"The others should be close behind." Cynder stated, jumping up to get into a steady hover, "Come on, I doubt that this is all the action we're gonna see tonight."

* * *

Flying over the destroyed streets of the city, Derek pulled off his thrower switching it to slime blower. They were approaching the 8th wall and could see people fighting back multiple entities. He figured that word about how effective lightning is really spread because what he saw was a literal ground storm.

Navigating over the divide between walls 8 and 9, Roger put the chopper into a hover as he lowered some to the ground. The blades kicking up a small tornado of dust and embers; turning around to face into the cab, Derek hung his arm out with his hand held under the forward handle hitting the secondary trigger. Blasting out the first anchor point of a slime tether as he slipped the hook onto his belt.

"Stick to the plan." Derek told Roger as he fell out. Making sure to get the door to close on the way.

"Good luck!" The pilot shouted before the door shut. Making it a bit more quiet than it originally was seconds ago.

Rapidly pouring the slime out, Derek quickly closed the nearly 40 foot gap in seconds. Stopping a little under half way to break the tether. Quickly firing the primary mode, he made sure to cover both his legs in a thick layer before he hit ground.

' _ **SPLAT**_ '

Hitting the ground fairly hard, he made sure to land in a more crouched position to take some of the impact. Making sure that his right leg took less of the force from it. Even after a year he still was having problems.

Looking around the city streets, he could tell there was a fight here. The level of damage showing that it was mostly a physical than firefight as the pieces of rubble around him told more if a smashed and crushed than blasted apart. Standing up and kicking the slime off, he dropped his goggles back down: looking over the number of 'ghost trails' that showed Pke energy in a purply mass floating in the air.

Holding a hand up to cover his mic from the outside noise. "All clear."

A flash from the spotlight confirmed his statement as the chopper flew off to assist in another part of the city.

Flicking the trigger modes, making the 'Active' trigger, the one used to arm the thrower, and third fire into the first and second. Letting him to handle both his rifle and thrower while still firing both.

Taking in a few breaths, he prepared himself for what was to come next. "Alright. Let's do this!"

Mustering up his strength, he charged ahead to aid in the on going battle.

* * *

Just above the city, moments after dropping Derek off into the streets of the 8th wall, Roger was finalizing the preparation in arming the helicopter's weapons. While it wasn't the most armed vehicle in their arsenal, being that Derek's motorcycle has more than it by a longshot, it's underbelly cannons did provide a punch against large targets from the air or on the fly.

With the Super Slammer still too full to be of any use and the sheer number of monsters instead of ghosts swarming the area, he primed the underbelly proton cannons. Switching the controls into weapon mode as a new screen popped up on his dashboard. 3 monitors, one showing weapon status, the other a 3D diagram of the helicopter showing any possible damage and power levels to the cyclotron, and the last showing a radar like scanner connected to the Pke instruments on the underbelly.

From the ground he could tell was a utter disaster zone with ghosts and monsters running about destroying everything. Some dragons unleashing their elements that lite up the streets like infernos. Some dragons even actually causing inferno to burn the more material based entities. But the air was just as activity; dozens of ghosts and even Screechers swarmed about like a disturbed beehive raining down on any unexpecting victims.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

Holding his thumb over the trigger, he reached over the console putting the chopper into a slow forward hover. Because it was a two man job, him flying and the other controlling the guns, another set of controls were installed to allow one man operation. Though this would mean that he would have to quickly switch back and forth on controls to fire and pilot. Looking down at the window over what he could tell as possibly the 6th wall, due to the sheer amount of damage everywhere, he could see a whole cluster of creatures marching down the debris filled street.

"Alright slime bags, show time."

Dropping the control stick down as if to tilt the chopper down, the chopper maintained its course but the whirl of hydraulics moving could be felt through the bottom of the floor. With the barrels aligned on target, he pressed back firmly on the trigger. The proton cannons both roaring to life as the streams raced at the ground like red lightning. Hitting the top red button, two masses energy masses were sent through the growing streams. Exploding on impact at the ground as dirt, stone and anything else in the path was flown into the air from the sudden force. This caught dozens of creatures off guard once the ground before them erupted and decimated those who stood in its way.

Within seconds the whole street was cleared of any ghost and monster. Leaving a giant smoke cloud in its wake.

Being the most crazier team members of the group, Roger broke out into a laugh that would make the Joker clap with approval.

"Oh… if only my parents could see me now!" Just then his scanners went off. Switching off weapons for a moment to take back control he pulls back putting the Ecto-2 into a hover. The Pke readout, much like how it's displayed on the Ecto Goggles, was picking up several Class 5s and 6s within range.

"Ha ha HA! THIS IS GONNA BE FUN!"

* * *

Back in the streets, Derek was in the heat of the moment as he steadily stepped down the street that paralleled between walls 8 and 7.

Against any fires that burned away that refused to go out from the rain. The wind howling down the broken streets like collapsed canyons, three beams of proton energy lite up the night as creatures of all kinds charged at the ghostbuster. Dozens of ape ghosts, small monsters, creatures that looked more like disfigured masses, trolls and even a few screechers all populating the area that once inhabited peaceful citizens.

To his right, a charging cluster of 8 ghosts, 2 slime and 6 apes, came charging at him with the latter all holding a melee weapon. Shifting his thrower, he swung around dragging a high powered stream across the ground in front of them; spewing up stone and dirt in their path. The apes instinctively flinched and tried blocking the debris. It was this mistake that Derek brought the gun looping back higher to impact each of them. Each entity being zapped for no longer than a second, long enough that their energy couldn't regenerate fast enough. Each one vaporizing into clouds of dissipating Pke energy.

Flicking his fingers down on the vent lever, he quickly dumped his overheating pack. Twirling his rifle a puff of smoke blew from the cores as it corrected in his hand. Once both emptied, he a immediately took aim back to the creatures in front of him. Firing off 3 simultaneous boson darts causing a monster to have its legs, right side of its head, and a large chunk of its torso suddenly disappearing as it fell to the ground into its puddle form. Another one, not caring that it stepped through the remains, came charging forward to replace its attack.

The sound of stone suddenly exploding caught his attention; looking back to see a mob of apes charging out if busted buildings from his 5 o'clock to 8 o'clock positions. He turned around to face them, aiming his rifle and cannon to deal with them and the monster. But as fate would have it, it wasn't done trying to set him up. The loud beating wings and a roar that sounded like a drowning lion made him aware of what was in the air. Ceasing his attack, he stopped his march to see the three different groups of creatures now surrounding him.

' _Let's see… 15 entities; three class 3, seven class 4s, three class 5s slimers, and 2 class 6s. Best course of action: trapping. Unavailable. Next best: bosons and fermion shock. Slime Monster, 11 foot, full health, charger type. Best chance: slime mine and grenades. Screecher; best option: discharge cage when in range. Next best: slime mines and hope for the best. Yeah… this is gonna be fun.'_

"Alright… who's first?"

All within a ear splitting sound wave, on that Derek could figure was heard from at least a quarter mile in every direction, every creature charged at him.

Moving fast, almost in a supernatural way, Derek aimed both guns at the monster. Quickly swapping out cannon modes into the Over Pulse as it started chewing away the ghosts. Flipping the dial on the handle the proton stream from his thrower abruptly stopped as slime sputtered out of the blower nozzle before going into full spray. He knew he could keep on the cross modes for this, taking too much power would overheat the pack to quickly and often he'll have to run to avoid getting hit.

Upon the sudden punch that the positive plasma gave off, the black slime monster stopped its attack when feeling its form suddenly burn and bubble with it rapidly losing strength. It tried to launch a slime blob from its mouth; collecting up a ball roughly 3 feet wide in its stomach as it raced up through its throat and out of its mouth to hit the human. Derek immediately countered this, aiming the blower at the blob instead as it rapidly chewed away its negative effects till it was a pale-ish color that splattered to the ground and over his boots. Once he determined it was weak enough not to be a threat his attention went right back to his other targets.

Turning around he half expected to see a line of angry ghosts exhausted from the cannon.

What he got was the largest, the Class 5 ape, charging at him with the biggest hammer he ever thought could possibly be held by a creature that only, if only, got up to his chin. Then again, he assumed it was because of ghosts powers that allowed such feat to happen.

And because of such surprise it came to no surprise that he felt his feet leave ground and suddenly see the ape and him form a large gap as he flew backwards. Rolling once over his pack and equipment before landing face down.

" ow… alright, that one hurt." Shaking his head he could feel his chest sting from the hit. The feeling of a blunt force equal to a bus wasn't something he was prepared.

* _ **WHAM**_ *

He flew across the street tumbling several times. Stopping himself early as he dug his fingers into the stone. "Alright," he gripped his dropped rifle. Taking on a kneeling position as the ape ghost came charging up for another swing. "I'm already annoyed by you."

Pressing down on the trigger, a Boson Dart flies from the barrel at the ghost. The ape does little, as it has little time, to move out of the way as the ionized energy ball explodes over it. Ripping it apart as it flew back. From the pie chart Derek could see it was on the last red chip. Right now would be a perfect time for a trap. But since that was out, he figured to keep it down low health.

"That's on-" His sentence was cut short when he quickly ducked down. Missing a ectoplasm enhanced sword that without his action would of resulted in his neck having a new breathing hole. With a annoyed grunt, he aimed at the the entity that was now missing said weapon and fired. The ghost, being the weakest of the three Class 3s, was the target that met a instantaneous vaporization.

"Okay, that is _two_." Twisting his thrower's dial he swapped into the Meson Collider. Knowing that the third alt fire would do best in having to deal with trappable entities without one. "NEXT!"

It was the slime ghosts that came next. Three of the more common entities he and other teams tended to find the most when around a black slime source. While they do often use the environment around them for teleporting to ambush, they were still often considered more brainless than a threat. Another trio of ghosts had decided to follow the others lead, flying forward with their weapons raised.

Ripping another bomb off the strap he flicked the dial again. Rearing his thrower back and swinging it out like a sword to cut down a horde of foes. Slime gushing out in high volume that coated each ghost with so much slime they had taken on a more pale green color. And because of, their negative energy being sapped away made each one pop like purple glitter filled balloons. Leaning back some Derek refocused to the apes who were quickly closing the gap between each other.

"THINK FAST!" Quickly twisting the knob to one click, the setting that makes one click of the knob 5 seconds onto the timer, he tossed it somewhat in the air. Using the back side of his thrower, he stepped forward swinging the 15 pound piece of equipment into the bomb.

The ghost, not knowing what was flying at it, didn't bother to move out of the way or stop to think. Only running head first into the device. On impact, a red glow instantly filled the grenade's housing as it bulged out like a pipe about to burst.

* _ **KCHOOOM-ZZZAK***_

The ghost erupted into a flash of blue smithers raining down like party streamers made of dust. The other 2 entities to its immediate right and left were not as unfortunate as their comrade, though didn't escape from the blast. Both having their respective sides be incinerated by the energy, shredding them like a ghost chipper that fell apart on the ground in heaving blobs of slime.

"10 down, 5 to go-WOAH!" he ducked as a mass of black slime flew just passed him. Splatting on the wall behind him in a acidic hiss.

Without looking he swapped into Collider again. More specifically the alt third fire. It was a hard weapon to add, being that it functioned differently than what the meson and overload system used, but it provided useful for when it was needed. Once armed the gun hummed for a minute, having to readjust its trigger settings once more.

Derek's focus was to the other 4 entities flying at him. With a confident grin he held the thrower out a the swarm. Holding down the trigger as to build up the charge like a slime mine. The Fermion Shock was meant to be a close range horde weapon, much like the Shock Blast, but it covered a much larger area and didn't lose its power so quickly over distance with a wavelength of roughly 11 feet when fully charged.

But he didn't need all that. Letting go the barrel flashed a greenish yellow color like gas being ignited in a clear container. The very tip glowing a bright yellow as it expanded outward, balling up into a energy mass that quickly collapsed on itself. The wave that looked like a net made out of yellow lightning flew across the area even kicking up dirt from the ground. It was about 7 feet wide, just wide enough to reach all 5 entities before it would fade out. The ion energy on impact didn't stop them completely or destroy them. More as the range had made it into a more stunned and disoriented state but still kept moving. Charging up again, the second wave succeeded in destabilizing 3 of the entities. Bringing his rifle up behind him he sung forward like he would to slash with a sword. Only instead a blast stream whipped out from the barrel striking the 3 down into clouds of vaporized purple smithers. The 4th entity reared its claws back, ready to strike out once close enough. But Derek brought his thrower up to block the ghost; holding it by the undersides as he lifted the rifle up to have the barrel just a inch away from its head.

 _ ***KC-OOOOOMMMMM***_

Lowering his guns, simply twisting his wrist to flicking off any possible ectoplasm that was left from the destroyed entity, Derek sighed him relief that most of the ground forces were finally dealt with.

"Alright, that makes just one more to go." he turned his attention to the sky.

The Screecher in question was staying high up to avoid the fire fight. It had the advantage; raining down blobs of black slime over the area forming in puddles. Derek quickly swapped around his pack modes, putting his thrower primarily into slime blower. Quickly twisting the adjustment knob again he switched the third fire switch to normal as slime mines. Holding down the release he began building up a charge. The slime steadily forming at the tip of the slime blower as it reached around basketball size once he let go. The ball whooshed from the tip through the air much like what a boson would without a trail behind it.

The mine flew in almost a slow motion type way when it reached the height the Screecher was. But it knew this was something bad for it and dived away. Only feeling tiny drops of the green substance from it exploding. Quickly building up another he fired a boson/blast stream; holding down the wrangler to at least hold it in place. Unfortunately due to the distance, the dart was fading and the blast stream couldn't get a hit. The end of the stream whipping around like a plastic noodle like on the old Kenner toys with the entity easily dodging it. Another slime mine launched, this time smaller yet traveling faster. He quickly built up another once the slime bubbled reformed on the blower nozzle.

Then a idea came to him; switching out of slime, making the bubble be sucked back in, as he flipped both thrower and cannon into stasis. The former angling forward just slightly as he fired both streams. The Screecher was caught a little of guard by this, but quickly flew up higher into the air where the streams lost most of their form and just ended.

It was already making Derek passed, "STAY STILL YOU OVERGROWN SNOT BAG-"

* _ **KCH-OOOMMMM***_

The Screecher roared in agony as it lost its focusing on staying in the air. A long proton stream, too high to be from anyone on the ground, and there wasn't as building tall enough that was close by that would allow such a range to be achieved by a pack, arched across the stormy sky with a energy mass flowing up the stream. Once it hit the creature it went immediately into capture mode grabbing a hold; the boson colliding into the side under its wing. It was what they considered the 'sweet' spot to hit them. The slime usually being much more flexible and soft that meant it was much more sensitive.

Fire blew from the hit, the wing shriveling like paper becoming a hot ember into a crumpled up mess. It didn't have much choice to let gravity bring it back down. From the height it was at, he knew it would be a soft landing. It tried flying with just the one wing, flailing it to try and stabilize. Unfortunately, it was a futile attempt. In a trail of smoke, crashed down the side of a stone roof, flipping over the edge as it fell through a more wooden one that shattered from the sudden load. Though he couldn't see it, Derek could see through the destroyed windows the clouds of dust exploding out as it busted through 2 more levels before hitting the ground floor. From there he could see how it was now heavily missing chunks of its body oozing slime from its wounds.

He chuckled. Knowing that he owed his pilot a drink later, "Thank you, Roger…"

" _ **Impressive, creature**_ _."_ he heard a deep voice directed to him.

Turning he expected a dragon, cheetah, mole, hell he would take Sparx just for the sakes of it. But what he saw made him instinctively take a step back. It was what he had dubbed the Hammer Ape, still standing with half his head and left arm completely blown off. In his disfigured right arm held that very annoying hammer Derek has the misfortune of meeting several times in a few minutes.

" _ **You seem very formidable for what the master wants."**_

"Huh. Yeah, sure. And you can go tell your 'master' he better stop sucking shlongs if he thinks he can actually get me to join him."

The ghost laugh silently. Only getting loud at the end with a little _tsk._ " _ **What a shame you are arrogant against the inevitable."**_

"I'm a Ghostbuster; delaying the inevitable is what we do." he then took aim of all three guns, "Too bad you're not going be part of it."

" _ **On the contrary,"**_ his muzzle turned into a evil grin. Derek tensed up, not liking that grin at all. " _ **If it was the case, then you would of delayed what was gonna happen now."**_

Confused, Derek watched as the ghost faded into a much more transparent form. Then nothing; nothing but empty air that existed there before and now. Reaching up he pulled his goggles up over his forehead to see that there wasn't anything present.

He saw the remains of the slime puddle that once the monster start to bubble again. The residue from the positive slime was quickly overtaken by the sheer strength the black slime got a boost in. Then the first claw flew from the puddle; gripping the ground as it looked like it was pulling itself up out of a hole. The head, torso, waist and legs all forming from the slime. It was another monster, roughly 13 feet tall with a much more portioned body than what your average monster was.

"Well, you're a bit bigger one now." he mused. Eyeing up his new opponent before looking displeased, "I've fought bigger."

With a howled roar the monster charged in the same manner most slime monsters did. Lurched forward, arms out, claws open and back hunched. Clipping his guns back on, Derek pounded the rings of his gloves together, causing electricity to arch over each one as the wire casings took on a much stronger glow. Once the meters on each wrist battery were full he waited till the monster got closer before making his move.

Plucking a grenade off his belts and twisting the knob it have a 5 second fuse. Pushing down the trigger as he tossed it out like he was bowling. The device rolling several times towards the charging entity as the timer hit 0.

* _ **KCHOOOM-ZZZAK***_

Derek was surprised, taking a second to realize what he saw. The monster had completely dodged the bomb. Dumping a blob of slime over the device in thick layers that stopped the explosion from going out any further. It lurched forward spewing a stream of slime in its path. Quickly plucking off another grenade he got into a fighting stance. Hitting the trigger once the monster leaped up. Derek simply let the device slip from his hand to the ground clattering as it hit. Spinning on his boot heel he threw himself forward just as the monster smashed its fists down.

Most of its entire left arm was blown off up to the shoulder with the other missing up to the elbow. It's agonizing cry echoing across the city like so many others that were falling from the defending forces. With it stunned Derek leaped into a sprint. Bringing his left arm back he threw a punch; the ion energy surging through the rings suddenly expanding and sparking from being so close to concentrated negative energy as it reacted like a close range boson dart. A whole chunk was ripped from the monster's torso with black slime dissolving in the air or spraying across the ground. Rounding back he brought his right fist to its back, colliding with the place he would assume was where a spine would be. The hit forming a new crater on its body. Growling it swung its still partially intact arm out at him. Ducking down he tossed his hand up to stop it. Such a force by a normal means would result in the person being flung back. But with positive energy overcoming its negative, along with kinetic force acting upon an object in motion, pushed its arm back up to reveal its side. Derek took the opportunity; hitting the spot blow the joint to burn away more slime.

Quickly crouching down he pounded into the back if it's right leg, causing it to buckle under its own weight. With it roughly at his height now, he dashed in front of it he grabbed the sides of its 'head', it crying out as if his touch was like acid in skin; with his own body weight Derek brought its head as hard to the ground as he could. When it tried to stop itself he brought a combined fist down on top of it. Making it collapsed to the ground completely.

Stepping back some Derek brings his arms up smacking the undersides of his wrists. The gloves whirl in a depleting groan as the energy subsided into a white color before shutting down. Leaving the knuckle rings to be a steaming red hot glow. Reaching back he pulled off his thrower and rifle. Swapping the former into proton. Holding both out towards the monster as it tried standing back up. The damaged places from his hits smoking as they began to attempt to reform.

"Just do me a favor and stay down." he said annoyingly that this was the second time to put down the same entity. Hitting both triggers, two boson darts flew from the barrels at its upper chest. Burning a massive chard crater into its form making it collapse back down.

Seeing it literally huff in defeat, Derek took in a deep inhale as he sighed. Twisting his wrist to see his watch. It hadn't even been a hour and already we was tired of all the fighting. Turning back to the destroyed street as the full impact of the rain started to come down he thought it over on how he practically beat the crap out of a monster again.

"Hell… that was a bit easier than I originally thought it wa- _WOAH!_ "

He felt himself suddenly get pulled off the ground. Flying backwards in the air as the ground rapidly came back. Smacking off the ground with his breath suddenly disappearing from his lungs. He felt a claw wrap around his left boot and pull him back; lifting him up by his legs as he was tossed like a frisbee across the street. Landing on the ground with a hard roll and 'ompf'.

Sitting up on his arm pads, he tried to quickly soothe the growing migraine that was coming from the rapid session of hits and landings he was going through so fast. Stopping when he felt his right leg became trapped within a slimy yet solid mass. Struggling to lean up due to the equipment, his eyes widened in shock at seeing everything from his thigh to his boot was in its mouth. The corners arching up in a sinister grin as it shook its head like a dog and it's chew toy. Derek could feel his own stomach feel like it had a twister inside it with a earthquake going full blast in his skull. He tried reaching for his thrower, being unable to bring his rifle up from its position he figured he could blow its head off with a boson.

He felt down, seeing the hose dangle by and wrap itself under his arm. Reaching back like he was to normally pull it off the pack, he avoided almost making his hand directly into its black slime mass when his fingers brushed the end of the vent switch. Hooking it by just his middle finger he swiftly yanked it up. Nearly whacking himself in the face with the 15 pound gun as his fingers snaked around the handle into a tight hold.

"Will you Stop ALREADY!?" He shouted bashing the gun across the side of its head. Making it achieve what he wanted.

But from this action, it seemed to stop all together. Only standing there with him still stuck in its mouth. Derek's brow arched, confused as to what it was doing. He could hear a very low rumble; a growl from deep within slowly building. It's body even reacting with what looked like water ripples .

The top of its head raised some; he could feel the pressure loosen up yet he was still stuck. But in a demonic growl, like a cornered terror dog, it suddenly snapped shut; tighter than it was before when he felt it break cloth and skin.

" **AHHHH!"**

The level of familiar yet new pain skyrocketing through his body made him cry out. Feeling it's teeth sink into him and flicker just hairs away from much finer tissue and bone. It was digging into the same area that was practically decimated during Infestation that was only scavenged by a ton of purple slime and 2 months of physical therapy. He couldn't help but let even a few tears form in his eyes.

He was afraid. This reminded him too much like what happened over a year ago.

But that fear rapidly turned to rage.

Trying his best to ignore the pain, he quickly slid his thumb over the dialer into Electron Beam. "H-HEY!"

The monster stopped its attack, shifting its head to have its yellow eyes focus directly on him. In one swift move, he swung his arm around tightly holding the thrower. Making sure to bring it so close, it's slimy mass stopped it from going any further. Its eyes literally double as it focused on the sudden whirring sound of electrical energy.

* _ **FZOOOOOMM**_ *

The monster immediately dropped Derek from its mouth, it's bottom teeth scraping out the bottom of his leg as he hit the ground. Quickly doing his best, he tried to limp on his good leg while having his rifle be used as a walking stick. He didn't look back, he didn't need to know what was gonna happen after doing it before.

The monster's cry became increasingly quiet, almost a whisper to now nothing. It's body becoming stiff like stone. The slime losing its active state as it became more brown. Frozen, the hole in its head sparking like a fried wall socket as blue cracks rapidly spider webbed over its form. Until, it went collapsed into a blast of energy and fragments. Becoming nothing but part of the destruction around the ghostbuster.

Feeling even some pieces hit him in the back along with his hairs standing up from the electricity. Not caring now he slowed his mad dash to a crippling stagger. Trying to hold himself together, but the pain was rapidly over taking him. Going just 20 feet from where the monster was, he collapsed to the ground. Feeling the weight of his equipment bring him down. Reaching up from his dropped guns he first took off his goggles. Letting him have his forehead rest on the rough ground as he breathed in deep breaths.

"Derek!"

Immediately he looked up to the voice. Hoping it was someone familiar and not Rachel. She would finish the monster's job and kill him if she saw his condition. But to his surprise, it was the masses of 3 teenage dragons running to him in a frantic matter. The first one, from what he saw was aqua blue and grass green body suddenly skid to a stop next to him. The next coming up to its left and far left comprised of ocean blue and jet black along with orange-yellow and white.

The aqua blue dragon quickly looked over him, her head, as the body was slimmer, stopped when he figured they saw his leg.

"My ancestors…" he knew that voice. It had been a while. But he knew it since that time after fighting Dredge.

"Erica?" he muttered. Trying to test on his elbow pads. "What the hell are you doing out here?!"

"We're part of a scouting team sent by the guardians to try and get any back to the temple. We heard a yell and ran to where we thought it was. We came around right when we saw the monster blow up."

Carefully pulling himself up into a semi-holding position, he tried flipping over onto his back, but found himself turtling because of the jolts of burning that shit through his body.

"Erica," he looked up to the dragon. Reaching back as his hand worked around belt till he found his slime vial. Bringing it up he pulled the cap of with his teeth before holding it up to her. "Take this, and slowly pour on my leg. There's more in there than what you see."

Taking the slime in her claw, the ice dragon carefully leaned over him tipping the tube till the liquid began pouring out. At first he wanted to scream again; feeling the liquid freely flow into the gaping holes. But the slime began to work its magic; the pain rapidly started subsiding as it closed some of the more minis openings and stop some of the more significant bleeding. It would've, and should of, completely healed it back to what it was like before. But the effects of black slime on exposed flesh wasn't the greatest of aids.

Feeling his strength get a welcoming boost, he slowly pushed himself up, rolling to his left as to not put pressure on his right. Falling into his back he used his good leg to push him backwards, going until he felt his pack hit a solid surface. Reaching he began unbuckling the grenade belts and his pack straps letting it all fall to his sides. Shaking a bit to get them off his shoulders he dragged it around to his right side. Pulling it up so that the top was right next to him.

Pulling the latch that was on top of the pack that led to the pack's Sub-Space storage unit, he reached into, to the girl's surprise, the port elbow deep. Searching around inside till his hand brushed up against a micro version of what he wanted.

Pulling it out, in his hand was now a tiny silver ball of light no bigger than a golf ball. Flicking it to the ground, it exploded into a small sphere of red light as it rapidly grew in size and shape. Morphing into a more boot like shape that was larger than one would be. Once it subsided, the light revealing a skeleton frame of a metal boot with several rods and wires speckled all over. Two sets of knobs, two near the knee and ankle, both with foamed spacers to allow a decent yet strong hold as 3 metal rods allowed it to stand freely.

The girls were completely dumbfounded by what they just saw. Compared to seeing hundreds of ghosts everywhere, it was odd to see a being shoved his arm down a hole and pull out a leg brace.

"What the heck is that?" Jewel asked seeing the weird metal object just as he twisted the two ankle knobs to open the set up.

"Mass Distribution Cast. Or basically a leg brace. I used it about a year ago after my leg got chewed up by a monster last time like this. Only compare to now this is less damage than before." Carefully lifting his leg up, he brought the brace on the ground pulling it up like a actual boot. It went as far as his kneecap and covered the top half of his boot. He knew it wouldn't work as well as it should. His thigh still hurt and bled through his now ruined suit again and he had to keep pressure off of it.

Slowly turning around, he carefully started walking up in a circle to rise back up. Using the wall as support as he leaned back on the stone. Breathing deeply, he glanced back to his right leg, turning it to see what felt like a familiar sight again. It had only been a month before they got roped into this did he finally get healed enough to take it off and walk normal again. Having to do a week's worth of cardio to be back to what it was before Infestation.

Watching him, ready to catch him if need be, Erica stepped back some to give him some personal space. "You okay, Derek?" She asked wondering what he was thinking.

But instead of answering, Derek examined his leg for a moment. Leaning on it a bit more till he seemed more balanced. Then, in one swift move, he brought his leg straight up in a tornado kick to the stone wall.

* _ **CRACK**_ *

The girls jumped back when rock flew out from the impact. Shock to see the human break a 3 foot wide dent into the wall from where his leg was partially outlined. Lowering his leg, a silent hiss under his breath, Derek dropped it back down as he swiftly grabbed and remounted his protonix pack. Clipping the belts over his shoulder as he holstered his rifle.

"You said you were part of a scouting group, right?"

Erica nodded, "Someone saw your machine fly over the area, so we knew you guys were nearby. We were sent in the event that someone was left behind before the walls could be breached any further."

"Derek to Roger," he called into his mic. "What's your-"

 _ ***KA-BOOOMMMMM**_ *

The whole area violently shook as the 4 were suddenly hit by a gust of wind. All snapping their heads into the direction of a burning orange smoke cloud rising up from the tops of the buildings.

" _Yes_?"

"Was… Was that you?"

" _Yeah, had a cluster of at least 6 monsters and a dozen ghosts chasing after a group of civilians. Did a prolonged boson dart that collided with a lightning blast from one of them."_

"What's the status on wall 9 and the 10?"

"From what I'm seeing, 10 is clear. 9 just has a few stragglers but clear. I can see a few dragons roasting them now."

"Good. Head back to the temple and we'll regroup. Hopefully we can begin pushing out to the next set and meet up with-"

* _ **GRAAAA**_!*

Snapping around all four spun around to see another monster burst from the buildings. It didn't look like a normal monster, however, this one being more organic like an actual ghost yet stood a good 14 feet. It's stomach bulged out further with much bulkier arms and legs. It's head being more defined by a neck and having actual facial features. In its right hand was something Derek rarely saw a monster have; an actual weapon. This one being a massive club that seemed like it was sitting at the bottom of a lake for decades.

Shaking off the stone it glanced briefly at the group as it roared out raising its club. Charging forward Derek immediately got into a stance with his thrower priming a Bolt Ray to aim at its head with Erica taking a place to his left with lightning building up within her.

* _BIT-PEEWWWW_ *

A large yellow energy ball came sailing right into its face. Catching the creature off guard as it fell back some feet. Shaking off the hit, it could feel a strange tingling on its side. Looking down it saw that where the blast had hit wasn't burning, it was a actual yellow fire stuck in a small ball.

Dumbfounded, it smashed its hand over the fire. Figuring it would simply be put out. But when it lifted its hand it found that the fire was still there.

 _*BIT-PEEWWWW*_

Another came flying into its shoulder. Now getting angry it turned to face whatever was firing at it.

Only to see a twisting line of yellow bolts suddenly come flying at it hitting the two marked areas. Instantly Derek knew what it was, only 2 weapons they had fired meson particles _that_ fast.

"HEADS UP!" Yelled Danny as Ecto-4 came racing down the street.

The truck came to a screeching halt as Danny spun around grabbing the triggers to the cannon. Unleashing a volley of energy blasts that made the Overload Pulse function the machine gun to the Ghostbusters. The barrels spitting out so fast that the particles seemingly merged together in a split-stream of yellow that was rapidly tearing apart the creature.

It tried its best, but failed miserably, to block the relentless attack. Feeling its whole arm disintegrate as its torso was ripped apart. Flailing its arms, it soon fell all the way back to earth. Causing both a huge thump and a cloud of dust to signify its not possibly getting up soon. Easing up on the triggers, Danny turned back to admire his handy work at saving his leader and adding another monster to his kill count.

"Well," he leaned over bringing the smoking barrels up to blow them clear, "That's number 45 today."

"Danny, Ben," Derek said stepping up to the truck. Happy to finally to see some more familiar faces arriving.

That was, until he saw the extensive damage done to the windshield and passenger door.

The whole passenger side looked like it was t-boned on the quarter panel with the hood having a foot long dent that traveled up to the edge of the damage. Half the windshield was cracked with the top corner looking like someone shot bullets through the it with the corner of the light bar smashing and a flood light missing. The door however looks like a herd of goats decided to run right into it to where the metal bent out of place.

Ignoring the pain that came with it, Derek stomped over to the window to unleash hell on Ben.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE CAR?!"

"Monster tried to knock us over. Danny killed it but it still got a hit on us. Oh, and we're gonna need a new window for that." he pointed to the open window Derek was leaning in.

Looking down Derek could feel the tiny specks of glass that remained within the rubber seal brush under his gloves. He wanted to yell out in frustration, destroy something just to get it out. But as they had just killed possibly the only monster in sight, he ran both hands over his face taking deep breaths.

"Okay… has the others gotten into the city?"

Danny leaned over holding onto the meson cannon to answer. "They're all at the temple. Leo's trying to set up the disruptors, Rachel's trying to take care of anyone injured just arriving, Jack and Mike are out in Ecto-1 assisting in rescue and we broke off to find you."

 _ ***KA-CHOOOOMMMM***_

They quickly look up to see another ghost get obliterated in the air by Ecto-2. The cannon giving off a cloud of steam for a moment before resuming fire.

"And Roger's up there."

Shaking his head Derek reached over to the rear passenger door. Quickly stripping off his belts and pack again as he hopped inside but remained hanging out with his rifle. Much like the night that he and Rachel were chasing down the black slime Elemental.

"Get us back to the others. We need to get a plan made, fast. Girls," he looked to the 3 confused dragons. "Get on the back." he gestured to the truck bed where Danny was standing.

Not thinking at the moment, they were suddenly brought out of their daze as the truck roared its engine. Suddenly gaining speed as black smoke came from the rear duallies. Leaping up Jewel was the first to latch onto the side of the cargo box and grab the roof rack. Erica and Sprite both leaped into the air; their claws hooking onto the top of the tailgate just as the truck took a hard right turn to avoid a blocked street. This action making Erica leap over the door into the bed as she grabbed her friend's arm pulling her in.

* * *

Back at the temple, the front grounds were like bee hive of activity.

The Ecto-7 sat parked in the middle of the courtyard facing to the building with clear signs of damaged. The front plow, pull bar and grill of the semi all bent in from the amount of damaged it had to drive through to get here. The roof lights were missing half their casing with the rack having the same corner be heavily dented inward. The trailer looked more like it went through a metal brushed car wash; the whole driver side had its paint job shredded with claw marks and scraps from debris. Parts of the roof rack were even smoking and sparking from destroyed equipment.

Inside frantically running back and forth from the various computers, Leo desperately trying to keep the Pke Disruptors going as the shield being produced was only covering a area to reach the edge of the 9th wall. With the truck getting so shaking up, being as that this trailer wasn't built to handle this kind of conditions, some of the equipment inside had being a electrical mess.

Right as he had gotten a server going again, another just next to it sparked and went out. "God dammit!" he yelled hitting it. The lights flickering for a moment before going dark again. "We just lost the secondary controls!"

"OW!" Jack jumped back from the breaker room. A puff of sparks and smoke shooting out at him. "That's not the only thing!" he quickly dived back inside. Pulling and replugging several cables to try and redirect power. "I'm gonna try and redirect some power from non vital systems and see if that works."

In doing so Jack pulled out a bundle of wires from one socket. Immediately the overhead lights in the trailer all went out. Bathing even the outside that had the spot lights going to become darker in the storm.

" _Whoops_ …"

"Some light would be nice!" Leo shouted as the sound of metal hitting metal vibrated out from his direction.

"Alright," feeling his hand over he tried to find the port again. Having to stick the small flashlight in his mouth as he looked over the breaker to the one he pulled. "Back in you go."

Outside with the spot lights now back online, Rachel and Mike were running the show. Mike had taken to his cop side once more after returning from searching the city a bit with Jack, having to direct out going and returning groups of fighters in and out of the temple to try and maintain a constant blockade in the city. He didn't know where Derek, Danny or Ben was; the latter two having broken out of the convoy and off down the streets shooting any creature that didn't belong there. Derek from what Roger had radioed was somewhere in the housing district in the 8th wall area, the same place he was told that Terrador had sent a rescue team to find any survivors still there.

Right now though, his issue was to the giant map of the city Terrador had laid out in front of them with a tarp having been setup to keep the rain off. The map, being the magical infused world it was, showed each wall in different coloration with black dots representing all paranormal entities, green being any non-paranormal beings, a red and purple showing where Spyro and Cynder were, and 8 blue showing where the humans were. Over the map at least 13 groups of around 15 fighters was all over the city. One even showing where Volteer was, but the issue was the 8 of the groups were running back to the inner walls as creatures pushed further in.

Terrador snarled, not believing the city was this close to being overtaken again. "At this rate we might as well start digging new under tunnels. Maybe escape out if the sewer."

"I thought the sewer was still under reconstruction?" Mike asked remember the incident that made it have to get rebuilt.

"Most of the main tunnels were. But that doesn't count that they might of gotten creatures into them already. Literally the whole city is now within the temple and we're running out of soldiers."

"Well who the hell is left?" Mike turned to the courtyard that had several dozens of dragons out. But this was mostly because of any returning groups had fled back. Some with heavy wounds that made them nearly incapable of just standing up.

This was where Rachel was busy at. Having the slime blower strapped on with her med kit to help anyone coming in. Literally rows of dragons were laying on the wet ground in the rain with both blobs of pinkish slime and bandages covering them. So many of them having suffered black slime infection from weapons coated with the stuff or direct monster fights left large gashes over them with the deadly goo. Rachel, and about 14 moles nurses, were running back and forth trending to them all. Once one came in, the moles had to quickly get a space for them to place the patient down. Rachel came over giving them a whole vial of purple slime, with Leo, Jack and Mike relinquishing theirs and any spares they had for such emergencies, to help steady out the pain as she hosed them down with the blower. Once the slime had neutralize the black slime the moles began to do what they could. Stitching some areas along with rolls of bandages to stop any potential bleeding. Rachel just kept giving them vials to ease the pain like morphine and help heal any internal damage. It was a pain in of itself to run back and forth between current and new arrivals. More so anyone who was here the longest was pushing themselves to get back out into the fight.

"Incoming!" A guard shouted from the gate. One out of six present if any monster was to try to get through. Pulling open the massive doors they had time quickly jump back when a red and white Dodge truck blasting through. Swerving to the right side of the semi its tires suddenly screeched to a stop. Leaving two sets of skid marks on the stone pathway.

As the siren and lights died down the driver's door popped open. "We're back!" Ben shouted as he jumped out shutting the door behind him.

Just the three dragons along with Danny all hopped out of the bed. The latter going back around to his brother as they went to the trailer. But what got some attention was Derek slowly getting out of the passenger seat. It was like that moment on a movie where the characters are about to see the injury they didn't expect to see on their friend suddenly appear. But when his leg came into view after he fished out his pack from the cab and shut the door, the other 4 all looked at the red mass that was overtaken his suit's leg.

Rachel was the first to react, "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG!?" She shouted from across the yard.

Derek slowly limped in the direction the brothers went; Erica taking notice of his coming up to his left side to act as a support. With a grateful nod they headed over as Mike broke away from his planing with the guardian and Rachel from her patients. Once he got to the ramp, Derek slowly turned around and collapsed on his butt onto the higher edge. Leaning against the door as the desire for a Pepsi started growing.

"Derek…"

"Rachel, I- _BAAA_!" he was suddenly engulfed by a blast of pink slime over his whole front half. Most of it actually aimed at his leg but traveled up higher over his chest. "Okay! Okay, Rachel! Enough!" he yelled trying to block some of the slime from hitting his face.

After a few seconds Rachel pushed the release forward. Cutting the flow through the hoses to the nozzle as the attack subsided. Derek now sat mostly coated in a decent coating of the pink goo with everything above his name tag not really effected.

Wiping some of his hand he flicked a large blob off his chest. Looking up at his medic with a stern glare. "Was that really necessary?"

"For you, maybe not enough." she chuckled.

Just then the sound of wings barely drowned out by the downpour, which for Derek was helping in getting the slime washed off, though he knew this suit was practically ruined by now, looked back to see a group of at least 8 dragons swooping in from the east side of the temple over the wall. The 3 in the front being the 3 distinct dragons they had come use to.

"Guys I think we have a-" Spyro's sentence was cut short after he saw the bloody and slimy mess before him that was Derek. "Jeez what happened to you?!"

"So how was it out there?" Derek forcibly wanted to change the subject. Getting tried that this was literally a rerun of Infestation again.

Spyro broke his gaze from the leg after giving his head a good hard shake to refocus. "We have a problem. There's another wave coming."

This made many give him their attention. "What do you mean another?" Mike asked feeling over to his side where the Shock Gun was hanging on his belt.

"Like what hit this place first is about to again." Cynder explained. Making every Ghostbuster stop whatever they were doing and look at her with disbelief.

"That kind of force could wipe out the whole city." Mike thought out loud.

"And we don't have the man or firepower to deal with something like that." Derek added. Thinking over how the event on Crystalline was literally happening again. "The last time this happened we had dozens of traps, Slammers and PCU still available. Now that's out of the question and we're practically dead in the water."

A wave of silence engulfed the group. Trying to think of the level of damage that was fast approaching them. Derek was down, they didn't have much left on terms of equipment not used, even the Mega Trap wasn't finished but most knew it wouldn't be much help and almost anyone who can fight these things were falling faster than they can zap ghosts.

"What about reverted particle flow?" Ben suggested.

Leo suddenly stopped mid work at the sound of the question. His mind feeling as if a few brain cells had just popped. His mood suddenly taking on a much more serious aura.

"You're talking about causing a explosion of highly charged Pke energy suddenly being expelled out from a holding unit out of both the traps and disruptors. That kind of backlash could fry the circuits!"

"Could it work!?" Derek yelled. Thinking over the scenario himself.

Leo thought about this for a moment. They had once done this with the main containment unit to power the shield generator for the city. But that was after they had dumped nearly all its contents into the sub-units. This was literally using a almost to full capacity unit and dumping everything out of the Super Slammers to make the charge for the disruptors to rapidly expand out. Such a task would cost them all the truck's power, even though some traps along with Ecto-X1, 1A, 2A, and 4 still had full units, enough to easily get the grid back up to reasonable levels. But the math running through his head told him it would be like detonating a proton pack in a closet.

"Jack!" he ran back to the the rear of the trailer to the PCU room, "Start redirecting the inflow cables from the traps to the containment unit!"

"Wait, what's going on?" Cynder asked confused as to what was going on.

"It's a 'last resort' kind of tactic we made when Infestation was in full swing." Mike texplained. "You know how the containment uses ghosts to power itself to keep them in? Well, it's basically using that energy to dump the system of all that's in it and use the resulted energy to build up a powerful charge."

"Then that charge is focused into the disruptors to suddenly turbo charge them onto a massive anti-pke wave." Derek added on.

"Only problem is that in order to do it all the ghosts have to be emptied out. So they'll be released back into the world."

"So you did actually learn something. Eh, Danny?"

"Shut up, Derek."

"We got a problem now." Leo called from inside. "Because these units aren't like the one on the firehouse, they need to be shut down first before we can build up the energy."

"But that would leave this whole area vulnerable to attack." Spyro stated. Looking around at the beings present and coming in. He saw even some families running through the gate all banged up and dirty.

"Effectively losing the shield protecting the temple and everyone in Warfang."

"Do it," With that in mind, Derek reached down to his headset switching over to Roger's channel. "Roger this is Derek, you still there?"

" _Loud and clear. Just trying to pick off any stragglers."_

"Forget about them. Listen, on your scanners what do you see?"

A few seconds passed of silence before a answer came. " _A huge wave of Pke energy rushing towards us."_

"How long do you think it will be before it reaches the outer wall."

" _Ah… rough guess, 11 minutes."_

Derek looked to Leo, his eyes clearly asking the latter if that was enough time. "That can work."

"Alright Roger head back to the temple. It's about to get more chaotic."

" _Copy that."_

"Terrador!" The earth dragon looked away from the map at the call of his name. Seeing Derek push himself back on his feet, "Send a signal and get everyone back here! It's gonna get messy!"

On cue, like the moment before a volcanic eruption unleashes hell, the entire area became silent to all. The roaring of creatures, orders being shouted, and even the sound of the vehicles' sirens and patient's groans being drowned out. The sound of beating wings and rain being just the only thing to make a sound as without looking Volteer's group arrived. They too taken by the silence that covered the area.

Derek glanced up to Leo, who had stepped back out onto the ramp with his Pke meter out. The green bars were rapidly rising, each meter everyone had equipped was growing in brightness with the wings flashing.

Then, the tall tale sign of _what_ was happening began to dawn on each and every one of them.

"INCOMING!" Mike yelled as he ripped the Shock Gun off his belt along with his thrower. Even Rachel and Derek pulled off their own sidearms just as Leo jumped back into the trailer. All ducking down to the ground in a crouched position.

Everyone around did the same, some expecting and some not, as the rumbling of earth started to grow. Reaching the level of at least a 6.0 earthquake shaking the entire already brittled city. The walls and temple all losing streams of stone and dust with some on the wall desperately trying to hold on. The Ectos even all jumping on their tires.

The group all looked up from their positions, Derek quickly pulled up his mic, "Roger! You read?! I thought you said that wave won't come for another 11 minutes!"

There was no answer. Not even static came through a empty channel.

"Roger? Do you read?" "INCOMING!"

* _ **CRASH***_

Suddenly everyone jumped at the colliding screeches of metal on stone raining down upon them.

The group all looked up in utter shock at the sudden flash of a oncoming spot light suddenly flashing by as a mass of red and white exploded over the top of the wall. Smoke was bellowing from heavily damaged tail rotor that within seconds suddenly clipped the top edge of the wall. 2 guards quickly leaped out of the way as the helicopter smacked hard down on the stone enough to cause a new hole to explode and rain down.

Inside the cab, Roger was fighting with all his might to keep Ecto-2 from crashing into the people below. He felt the whole craft suddenly larch go the right when the tail hit, sending him spinning towards the semi and group. Yanking the stick, he forced the craft up. Trying to gain back altitude. The rear controls barely responded go his hands, making him have to apply a lot more just to get what little stabilization he could remotely get. Through his cracked windshield he could see his team all dash up against the trailer as several dozens of dragons ran for shelter to avoid the spin blades that could easily decapitate any of them.

The skids once more scraping across stone kicking up dirt, having the chopper now flying straight at the stairs to the temple. Immediately Roger cut power to the primary rotor. The chopper still continued forward, the front nearly clipping the cannon and spotlight as once the skids bit the first step, caused the whole craft to violently jerk to the side. Tipping on its left side to where the blades narrowly scraped the stones as it flapped back onto its gear.

Immediately on the dead whirl of the engines, Rachel and Mike both ran at the crash site. Mike quickly arriving first as he ripped the door open to reveal a shaking up pilot.

"Roger, you okay son?" he carefully began unbuckling his teammate. Having to rip his hand off the stick to slowly pull him out. "What happened out there?"

"Screechers…" he muttered. Trying to get the shake out of his system. "Whole mess of them caught me off guard. Bit the tail and ends of the cannons. Happened just after Derek contacted me."

Rachel kneeled down to him, pulling out a small pen sized flashlight from her pocket as she checked him over.

"How do you feel? Any pains, achs, something out of place?"

"Just…" he held his hand to his forehead, "A bit dizzy…"

"That should go away within time."

Rachel was right, after a few seconds the whole thing had stopped. Leaving only Roger to his dizziness was everyone stood back up from the shaking.

Spyro looked around for any sign of trouble. Finding that the apparent earthquake was the 'threat' was the only thing that had happen. "Well that wasn't as bad as I-"

 _ ***KA-SSSSSSSSSSS-***_

Spyro's confidence dropped several bars when the massive blue and pink psychokinetic energy wave flying through everyone and everything. The side if the rolling wave just barely visible from the space between the night and a light source or even just passing through the buildings and people.

"-expected…"

Derek shook his head, "You just had to say it. Didn't you."

Knowing that within moments hell would be here, Mike flipped around the dark matter gun so that the handle faced the pilot.

"Still alright to fight?" Roger glanced up at the gun before taking it. Nodding with a smirk as he stood back up.

"Enemies incoming!" A mole shouted as he and several others came down from the wall. Just in time as the edge was consumed into a wall of blackness over top it like a flooding dam.

"Alright people," Derek called out, "LIGHT 'EM UP!"

Derek, Rachel, Danny, Ben, Roger, Mike, Spyro, Cynder, Volteer, Terrador and just about every dragon present that wasn't a patient opened hell fire on everything.

Ghosts, Ape ghosts, slimers, screechers, elementals, trolls, animators, and monsters all flooded in around them. Beams of every weapon the team's proton packs had flew through the air taking down whatever was possible on max settings. Dragons like Terrador, Erica, Volteer, Cynder and Spyro, and every dragon with full mastery of their internal elements unleashed a hurricane of fire, ice, earth and lightning mixing in with the energy weapons.

Derek, and Spyro stood back to back. Covering the trailer from any creature that dared to come to close. A ape ghost, roughly a foot taller than Derek, came charging at him from the horde; reaiming his thrower he swiftly brought down a arching proton stream as he fired back to back bosons. Both the first dart and the stream cutting into its side and left shoulder that evaporated in a black mist. But it still kept coming.

That was until Spyro zipped in front of it, swiping its head with his claws, slashing the end of his tail across its abdomen, spun around in a swing flap of his wings as his mouth rapidly grew in a orange light. Unleashing a inferno into its face with such proximity that the effects of such a hot fire were just as effective on it as if it would a living version. Only did a stray proton stream to the side make it complete disappear.

"Leo!" Derek yelled as he resumed firing, "Start building up that charge!"

"But Derek-"

"NOW!"

Seeing the fury coming from his eyes even through the back of his head, Leo dashed back into the containment room straight to the control board. Mentally preparing himself for what was to happen in moments. He first began be opening the main flow lines between the SSU2 and grid. The connects that feed through the main pipe that bypassed the laser grid to keep the army of creatures inside. He made sure to open up a small closed off section, being that the unit and trailer would lose most of its power once the unit dumped everything.

"Jack! Set the disruptors to maximum minimum range and rapid charge up!"

Jumping from the closest the technician ran over the the control tower. Pulling down 4 red switches as the trailer flash momentarily. A monitor on the side displaying each of the 4 disruptors statis all began showing the very tops of them begin retracting down to their uncharged forms as a purple bubble representing the barrier where rapidly shrinking down till the connection was lost.

"Units powered down and rebooting. Setting the charges and range."

A blue 'REBOOTING' warning flashed at the top of each screen as the top part of each unit changed into a red color. The units then began starting to draw in all available power they could get as the purple bubble remained only the size of a baseball.

Happy to see the process was already starting to begin, Jack called back to Leo, "Start the energy transfer!"

Back in the control room Leo typed at ferocious speeds on the small keyboard. Various cables and indicator lights illuminated to life with a yellow-gold glow slowly traveling up into the ceiling. Jack looked up even to see both cables leading to the rear mounted disruptors. But what caught his attention was the 8 rising bars above the whole set up. At first it was in the yellow, the units had been heavily used all night, being that shutting down cut the power to allow the coolant system to do its job. But with a much stronger charge coming through the overworked units it was already breaking dark orange causing alarms similar to the proton packs started echoing through the trailer.

"What's wrong?" Leo called hearing the alarm.

"Whole system is running hot." he answered. Quickly adjusting the settings to try to send more coolant through. "What's the status of the slammer?"

~Outside on the roof, the SSU2, or Super Slammer Unit 2, was already showing the signs of the incoming eruption. The 4 hatches that sealed the trap were already starting to let a deep yellow glow crack in between the panels with the many cables approaching the same level of build up.~

"Growing in instability. Like I said this equipment or whole trailer wasn't built for this purpose. Let's just hope to even survive the night."

 _ ***CRACKA-CHOOOOOMMMMM***_

Right outside the truck, Derek was unleashing a 3 way crossed streams with the cores fully opened. Spyro stood just feet behind him let his lightning give his friend's weapons a extreme turbo charge. His thrower, rifle and cannon, two of which were being charged, merged over into a single green beam 20 feet in front of him quickly cutting down any entities that were roughly Class 5 or weaker. With the combination of the others much stronger entities that while took heavy hits from Derek's own hits, was quickly dispatched by the others or just pushed back. The walls themselves were becoming waterfalls of creatures; making the others have to form a large line of defense. From the front of Ecto-7 to the temple doors the team and dragons held off all they could. The patients and less effective beings all quickly fleeing inside.

The temple was probably the only safe place in Warfang now. Even then deep inside its walls dragons were rapidly being overwhelmed by the invading creatures that some could come flying through walls.

Back outside, the situation was becoming less favorable. Having to attach the winch from under Ecto-2, the group, consisting of just Danny and Ben, quickly hook the two lines to the rear of the trailer. Slowly dragging it away from the gate and closer to the group as Terrador quickly made a rock wall stopping the helicopter from moving as it pulled the truck. Ectos 1 and 4 were drag up beside the chopper, acting as stand points for anyone unable to get inside as a safe point others heavily guarded.

Rachel, Mike and Volteer covered the left face, Roger and the Smiths along with Terrador covered the right, the two groups protecting anyone unable to fight to stay in the middle. Danny and Ben covered both sides along the semi as Jack and Leo were swiftly making sure the system worked. At the back of the trailer just 12 yards away from the ramp, it was almost a harmonic dance between the human and two reptiles with both flying around in a circle formation keeping all airborne targets away as did the former decimate anything come too close.

Then a loud crackle echoed through the air; like a bolt of lightning just struck a single tree out of a whole forest.

Spyro, Derek, and Cynder all turned to watch as the semi truck trailer began to bath the whole area in a immense. Almost as if a hundred lighthouses where just ten feet away focusing everywhere. The crackling coming from the disruptors in a form of energy build up that would be highly concerning to anyone around. However, Derek had remembered seeing this happen before. Knowing just from the experience it was about to unleash hell.

And so did the ghosts.

Just hearing the truck made many entities turn and run due to the massive mass that usually kept them out or in a becoming so strong it could affect them indirectly. Even large monsters started retreating over the wall to run. But some entities, mostly the ape ghosts, were too foolish and remained behind.

From the corner of his eye Derek could see two figures emerge quickly from the rear door, "IT'S GONNA BLOW!" Leo yelled as he and Jack leaped from the trailer.

Just as as the latter's boots hit the ground, what sounded like a clap of thunder and a tornado drowned out the air making everyone stop. The equipment burning most red hot as the Super Slammer was just barely holding back the energy. It only had moments before it would blow the doors off.

"EVERYONE DOWN!" Derek shouted just as the flash happened.

Immediately, everyone fell to the ground covering themselves the best they could. Soldiers quickly using whatever they could use for cover; ice dome, a massive rock wall or even a shield it to protect themselves, some grabbing onto anything that was cemented into the ground, or just lay flat on the ground in hopes for the best. The human and 2 dragons were the last to see that tower of light erupt like a geyser from the top of the trailer. All 4 Pke Disruptors burning a hot plasma blue that was starting to already burn the paint off of the truck. The Super Slammer, Unit 2 that was closer to the middle of the rig and containment unit, was wide open with its lid flopping at its sides as a sight that only the 8 humans had only seen once before. The Pke Shield formed; more like a egg shape than perfect circle as the tower of energy made it rise higher. The mass at the top nearly as bright as the sun bathed everywhere for 10 miles in a intense beam as the bottom rapidly bulged out like a balloon.

* _ **CRACK-CHOOOOOMMMMM**_ *

Ducking down within a millisecond, the three clamped their hands/claws around their ears and closed their eyes. Feeling the sudden hurricane of wind building up like a tidal wave before it crashed over them and the entire city.

* * *

 **So I'm gonna skip the whole picking up right after and go straight to the aftermath next chapter.**

 **This will be pretty much the last chapter for the Guardians going with the PGB as I figure it would be best to focus on a smaller group (though it's gonna blow up in size in the coming future) and have them anchored down somewhere else.**

 **I won't can't any characters I've random made, like Redstone, Dredge, Erica, Wave, Bedrock and everyone else because I don't consider them mine. They're basically what and who I think could be people on the LOS universe.**

 **I added a few new/established things into the PGB here that so that it wouldn't seem stupid to suddenly saw these just randomly popped up out of nowhere and actually existed beforehand. The triggering mechanism for the proton guns are all the same and can be changed up. Because most packs in the PGB run on modes that have 3 or more functions, they have to make the guns be able to control it all. And since most would have their throwers and set gun out they couldn't just hold it awkwardly. Ecto-X1's weapons are established in Infestation. As because this isn't the ORIGINAL X1, that was destroyed and lost in 2017 after the Shandor Incident. The weapons are in part to the newly built version that includes Danny's upgrade of a remote. A Bi-Polar Pulse is my fancy name for essentially overloading a containment unit or loaded trap and performing a 'flush' that instantly dumps all power stored inside into a energy buildup that can act as a powerful bomb. This was done once in the PGBU and is also how Ghost Bombs function.**

 **Derek's legs is one thing that was already established in this story but not shown. Back in chapter 9 of the dream, that scene would've been him receiving his injury. However due to the timing of what the PGBU was at the time it didn't come fully across. The reason I could make it work in it not really affecting him in the story was because of the Purple Slime taking it off him. And now it is rapidly degrading to where he is starting to feel it's effects again.**

 **I've been trying to use the IDW Comics as a way to get sound effect text for the various equipment and creatures.**


	33. The Stress of the Job

Chapter 33: The Stress of the Job

Arch 2: Ghosts and Dragons

* * *

 ** **Still alive!****

* * *

 ** _1 week later…_**

The people of Warfang were tired. Tired of all the constant attacks, chaos, and reconstruction afterwards. True it has happened to the point where it's become second nature for most, the wear and tear of constant repeating made it all the more unbearable.

The Guardians themselves found it hard to deal with this. It wasn't just the city that was affected, the destruction reached for miles to the farmlands they used to harvest food or the woods to hunt for meats was more desolate now. Terrador himself had left to see to it that him and a select few, as there wasn't many available to begin with, set out to try to restore what they could. Cyril played in part to help secure possible means of water. Him spawning massive ice shards for some fire dragons to metal down into usable water. It was a pain since the sewer system had all but been destroyed again. Making some streets look ready to buckle from the lack of support with water or liquid pooling up in streams that formed at the center of the trench dips.

It was here that Spyro, Cynder and even Erica went around doing what they could. The former of both pairs aiding in the creation of more metal to reinforce collapsing or weakened areas. With his earth power Spyro was able to even help construct more natural yet solid walls as the workers carved it into a more usable design. Having it at as a center core that could be layered with material on either side to make it thicker. Cynder was on supply duty; something that she wasn't all to keen on doing. But at the rate some areas where getting done and moving around she was one of the city's fastest flies. With her shadow element she made quick work in transporting. Erica on the other hand was with the her friends that made up The Crystal Three, as the Ghostbusters had dubbed the the three teenage dragons, were further in the city spread out to help families scavenge anything they could from their homes. Since the monsters had a mindset to just smash through anything in their path most places were blown into clusters of debris to still standing structures. The latter of which was soon refilled by the residents to clear up space in the temple.

In all the city was in high gear for recovery mode, or as high as it could get at the moment, in the rebuilding process. Many wanting to push away the events of that night away into a shadow of history and move on.

The same couldn't be said for the PGB.

The group of 8, while this would be considered down time, was trying to keep themselves busy and alert. Danny, Jack, Roger and Leo were stuck on vehicle and equipment repairs. Out of all the vehicles only Derek's motorcycle and Ecto-1 were deemed suitable for active service. Despite the latter having a couple more scratches than it did a ten days ago. Ecto-2 was officially grounded as the tail rotor motor was completely shot. Roger and Danny had tried doing what repairs they could but without parts from the firehouse the rear remained a mess. Ecto-4 looked like it got hit by a train; the damage done was once again barely repairable at the moment. Danny had spent the latter part of 2 days pounding the metal back into shape at the temple forge. But it was still warped and now missing paint. The windshield was mostly covered with clear duct tape as some support was added on the edge. The whole door window however was just gone. Making it to where more clear and normal duct tape was used.

Ecto-7 in a way had seen much better days.

The truck itself was okay minus some scratches and dents. But the trailer was a mess. The containment discharge had left Super Slammer unit 2 completely inoperable with damage to SS1's flow lines. Leaving the unit now have no form of outside trapping. The breaker room was a soot covered mess that Jack ever so carefully cleaned. Leo tended to the containment unit; while the discharge freed up the unit to only have about 10% remaining capacity, them locking in enough ghosts to keep it powered, it was enough for them to finally dump all their hand held traps and other Slammers; after he had gotten it and checked to make sure it was stable, had all but fired the Pke Disruptors. They were a easy fix, sure. If they had the parts. Something that both Leo and Jack cursed many times about how they got pulled into this situation at a time when they were doing maintenance. The crystals were shot, _again_ , with several fired wires, blown emitter rods and one with a broken hydraulic.

Though they mostly felt it best to get at least one Slammer going again. Now that they had unleashed hundreds to thousands of entities back into the world.

Thus why Ben was on patrol. For the most part he rode on X1 with just his pack, meter and 2 freshly emptied traps in making sure there wasn't anything left on the city. Only finding traces of black slime. For those rebuilding it was both comfort yet stressful. They had protectors in the sense but they could only do so much. Mike agreed. He was out helping in the reconstruction efforts. Being double the strength and size of a mole and being a bit more mobile on the ground then a dragon, though not as much as a cheetah, he still helped in rebuilding the main walls. Using the Slime-Pack to launch tethers and mines to hold pieces in place for others to connect or to move to another location. Walls 9 through 6 were mostly back up. Wall 1, the main giant border surrounding the city, was the current focus as to avoid any potential threats from breaking through while fixes on 2 through 5 were being done without it.

The effort was slow. It was those who weren't soldiers and even civilians that lended a hand, paw, claw or other. That reason was the damage black slime had done to them. In the temple, the training hall had been temporarily converted into a hospital with rows and rows of beds lining the room. Beings all laying together with bandages over them, some with supports holding either broken or severed limbs. Rachel had hoped she wouldn't be in this position again. Infestation was had enough when seeing dozens bodies of the dying or dead lined up around the outside or garage bays of the firehouse to be moved through the Dimension Gate to escape the city.

Using the slime blower she aided in numbing the injureds' pain with a several well placed sprays. Taking a little into one of their spray bottles, or what Ray Stantz called the Slime Spritzer, she gave some doctors to try to see if they could replicate its effects. While the blower helped ease up on any damage that a black slime creatures had done to them, the RMS was running on the low side. After treating themselves for injury, especially Derek, they had to divide it up. Mike and Ben both had theirs, but the others had to use a single one sparingly if they were to get hurt while working. The rest, which were sitting in their pouches on her belt, was all that she was using to help heal anyone who was in a critical state. Helping to reattach limbs that while whoever was being worked on at the time, if they were awake despite the slime numbing most pain, would almost pleadingly thank her for the help. But while she liked the appreciation, the moment everything was in check she let the other nurses and doctors tend to them when she moved onto the next. Though it was slow going as the 5 vials she had were rapidly depleted by the 10th patient. Making her have to wait for the very last used vial to regenerate more.

She cursed herself for not bringing a mini-slime blower. Simply pouring a vile into the tiny tank would mean she would have a little bit more, maybe the equivalent of 30 vials of the purple slime. But it was something she wouldn't dwindle on now. Not when she had patients to deal with.

Leaving Derek to his own devices.

When everyone had finally gotten back on their feet after the blast sent God knows how many creatures far away into oblivion, he along with several others were rushed to the medical ward. Spyro himself had dragged him there. Tossing him up on a makeshift stretcher placed on a bench. His leg looked like someone had tried to use cloth to hold up a badly formed piece of spaghetti art. His leg brace doing its job in keeping him together, and even still being able to limp, was what had Rachel immediately go to him. When the brace came open, they didn't dare removing it completely in fear that it would teary away the remains of his jumpsuit that stuck to the puncture holes. Only taking the top off to allow the bottom to hold everything together as they doused him in more slime, cleaned up what blood was leaking, stitched up what they could and poured more purple goo into the wounds. But because of his 'situation' and how his leg was already messed up from events prior, and possibly still recovering from last year, it was still weak when everything was healed to where bandaging tape was just needed to kept pressure. Though he still had to where the brace that had some blood and slime stains on it.

A day of rest and one long debrief on the current condition of their gear, the city and everyone, with the undeniable anger that had formed when they tried making him use a cane, something he was not willing to go back to, though making them rethink it when Leo got thumped on the head from heading Derek it in the first place and Danny making a poorly timed old man joke, he had himself locked in a secluded part of the library. It was similar to the place where the Guardians had taken his team to tell them about Malefor's history but showed a bit more age, with some areas a good layer of dust, that he had dubbed his new temporary studies. Having ditched his torn suit, which was somewhere in the temple getting repaired, he was back in his usual set up with his coat zipped up halfway. A sign that he was serious and focused. He made sure to keep his rifle nearby at all times. He didn't want any unexpected _visitor_ and be caught off guard. He plucked every book, scroll, tablet (the really old kind) and anything that had information about Malefor that they had already and haven't gone over.

He had his Pke going over the dozens of data files they had collected about _him_ along with any pictures the sensor eye took at times. The energy fluctuations in the area. The energy the Mega Trap had taken in. Anything they had he was going over and reading. It took the others 2 days to figure out where he was. When they all first came in, (Literally everyone) they were more or less shocked to see the mess of books and scrolls open on every available table, given the fact he took some from other rooms, with notes lining the shelves and scattered about on the floor. It was clear that he hadn't slept at all since his recovery. A pile of bone dry Pepsi bottles laid in a stockpile between a desk and couch with a few still filled once said here and there. When asked what he was doing he simply went on saying that there had to be some way, a way to get this done once and for all.

They understood this. It was the same thing he did once more in 2018, right before yelling at 30 world leaders to literally launch nukes onto Manhattan. But for the dragons all they saw was a now obsessed man. It actually confused and at times frightened them at how since the being nearly 3 months ago they hadn't seen someone switch between positive and negative sides of themselves like this.

It made them, and at times the 'Busters, really wonder what was going on in his mind.

* * *

 ** _The Void…_**

I clapped the book shut as I took in a deep breath. This was the _eighth_ book the Chronicler and Ignitus had brought for me to read in this endless library of knowledge only to find more or less the same thing I around found from dozens of others.

There just had to be a way to stop him once and for all. Complete extermination to ensure both the potential of a break out from any prison he's put in or sudden reincarnation doesn't bring Malefor to this world again. The faster he is dealt with the faster we can go home. The 3 months that Chronicler had said that past between both worlds, albeit Avalar being a few days ahead, but from what update he got from Ignitus popping in and out of the mirror told me our entire force of all franchises was descending on New York. He said the government was close to mobilizing a thing called the Ecto Force Protocol. The EFP was something we made because of Shandor, then when 2018 hit it was put to the ultimate test. But if my world was close to going it again for two years in a row God knows what could happen. Most of the equipment was in the firehouse, being too dangerous to be near a public place or under _watchful eyes_ of the government, plus most of the prefab proton packs were scrapped and melted down, though we kept some around for spares, tests, and parts, anything like spare radios, suits and so on was there. I knew the Liberty team could produce some more proton packs, but the odds of them finding a way to this world and my team was impossible without any of the 3 gates.

Placing the book down on the desk I closed my eyes to think. It was weird how I was only here when I was asleep and yet in reality I was wide awake going over data.

I felt something warm go up against my hand. Just cracking my left eye I saw a welcoming sight as a gray-blue claw left behind a nice steaming cup of coffee other was small, I prefer something with more than forty ounces, but I thanked god and Icarea for the high metabolism to handle so much caffeine so quickly. I tried a sip, it was… a bit sweet. Almost like it had brown sugar in it. Though if I could get some I would pour enough sugar in there until I saw a iceberg peeking out of the surface.

"Thanks."

"No problem." The Chronicler nodded. "Just surprised to see someone like you so engaged with study that your body has almost completely forgotten the need for sleep."

I shrugged, "It happens. It gives me more time to work." I turned back to the book. It was history book, more on the times when dark dragons were first being discovered. Malefor fit the bill for this. But this Dark Aether that it mentioned multiple times had him running on the idea that it was more like Black Slime while Convexity was like Black Ecto. Just more stuff about dark powers that made his mind hurt when overthinking it.

"I've gone sometimes _days_ without sleep. Not even a full week and I'm still good."

"And yet you are still physically recovering. But your mental powers are here other than helping you heal."

"I'll go heal up once we got a game plan for how we're gonna finish the 'Dark Master' off once and for all." I felt Chronicler tense. It could feel it in the air. "We are right now in a bad position. We can't just keep going around like this is your world, we should just sit tight until something points where to go next. Though I feel it would be a bit easier with _reinforcements_..."

He shook his head just a little bit, "My power in just bringing you 8 along with your technology was taxing enough. For what I'm currently doing is pouring what energy I can to finish it within time. I can't simply teleport a human army here than to Avalar."

"What about us? We've been here long enough to get a energy code from this universe. If we had the Dimension Gate than we could transport them directly here. We could go Ecto Force again and have this place completely, or mostly, purged of any paranormal activity."

The silence that followed was something I rapidly got annoyed at. I could just imagine him saying 'It doesn't work like that.'

"As said, I'm tied with having to deal with several other factors. I can aid you in what I can, but for the most part I unfortunately cannot directly act."

"So we need a plan than to last the coming days… And we've still haven't found anything new regarding Malefor."

"Perhaps there is one way." Ignitus spoke, "You were once possessed by him, though only for a fraction of a moment, and yet your encounter in the forest saw to it that he knew where you are. Though I guess you can chock that up as coincidence or him actually following you. Depending if there is, or _was,_ a small mental link remaining you could use it to your advantage."

"And just how the hell do we do that? We don't have that type of technology with us right now. Let alone stuff that fully works."

" _Ahh_ …" he said in the tone like an old math teacher teaching a student something he didn't know, "But that's where the magic of Avalar comes in. For you see, we do possess a means of viewing memory and, if done correctly, enter one's mind. Spyro had once used it himself on occasion. Ignitus here once guarded it and was one of the main followers for studying how it worked. Though I do not know how the Pool of Visions will affect humans…"

"Great!" I clapped, finally getting somewhere, "Where is it?"

"It should be somewhere in the temple. After the original Dragon Temple fell we had it moved to Warfang for safety reasons. Just ask my brothers, they will know."

* * *

 ** _The cafeteria…_**

" _What time is it_ …?" Ben moaned from his concealed face on the table.

Roger looked up on his watch, "6:14." This earned another grown from the Smith.

The others all having their own reactions as well. They had just decided to take a long needed break, even Rachel was here still fully suited but without the slime blower. Having it left behind in the medical ward where she had given a crash course to some moles on how to operate it. Though it took 4 them both struggling to hold the main pack while 2 others held the blower nozzle. Mike was exhausted from the work he had done on the wall, so much so that both he and Spyro were leaning shoulder to shoulder on the verge of fainting. Both would have fallen over had the other not been there. Cynder for the moment was trying to calm her nerves and drink just a little bit of the RMS to help ease the tension that was now locking up her wings from having to fly back and forth all over the place. Leo and Jack however were a bit more occupied. One having the still incomplete Mega Trap on the table with his tool box while the latter had a laptop running over diagrams of the equipment. The others all just sitting there trying to keep themselves occupied.

All around them the room was still more packed than normal. Those still homeless or recovering all mellowing around with friends and family while enjoying what food they had after a week. The team did provide what food they had remaining, knowing that they could eat less than what a normal full size dragon needs.

Danny had taken himself to the challenge of keeping himself from growing insane. Taking a piece of paper which he stole from one of Leo's notebooks where it was just a blank page, knowing how pissed the scientist would get if it had even one number on it, and forming it in different angles and shakes till he achieved his goal for the past 3 minutes.

A paper airplane.

With a casual flick of his wrist he sent the aircraft into the air. Earning several looks by those who had never seen such a object flying by itself. He had known about the trick to having the wings made to allow longer lift to it, letting it sail across the room till it went into a nose dive into a table.

Sighing at the loss of his tiny craft when his eyes scanned over the crowd to figure out where it went. Silently praying to the brave little pilot who took on the duty of flying in such a incredible journey. Though he stopped when he saw a figure walking through the main door.

"Guys," he nudged Mike to get his and the others attention. Though the force was enough to bring unbalance in the force and cause him to fall into the purple dragon. Mike, jolting the tiredness out, sputtered as he grabbed onto the table. Feeling when Spyro latched on to stop himself from falling over. Though the weight of gravity pulling nearly 300 pounds of scales was enough to make him have to strengthen his grip to become white knuckled. The sudden action startling everyone present to stop and look.

They were surprised to see Derek actually out and about again. Though the bags under his eyes and messy hair was a clear sign of lack of sleep, he still marched over to the place they had technically designated as their table. The blank expression staying rock solid as he weaved his way passed tight gaps between tables stop at the head of theirs.

"Where's the Guardians?"

"Hello to you to sunshine." Danny muttered out loud. "They're in the war room." Mike answered with a yawn following behind. "Why?"

"I need a word with them.

* * *

"This is a terrible idea." Everyone nodded in agreement to Cynder shot statement. The 10 of them all walking down the hall towards the 'war room' where the Guardians retreated at times to plan both offense and defensive strategies to further help the city.

The map that Terrador and Mike used on the night of the attack sat across the table doing the 3D picture of the city. Showing the various places still damaged, destroyed or rebuilt.

"This is getting out of hand." Terrador huffed. "Each attack just further cripples this city. At this rate if we are attacked again I doubt there will be a city left."

"Well it's not like we can just pick it up and push it somewhere else." Cyril gritted. "This city has been a heaven for many since the war and it still is in these times. With all of these spirits running around its hard to find a more suitable place. Just look at Crystalline."

"I could right now care less about Crystalline." With a deep breath the earth dragon fell back in his hunches, bringing a paw up to his face in a attempt to ease the possible storm of a headache building.

Just then a knock could be heard at the door. Acting like hammers on a railroad spike going further into his head. Though it wasn't uncommon to get someone coming here for sometime to tell them it was a fairly secluded place.

"ENTER!" Terrador shouted.

One side of the doors swung inward; the light from outside vastly brighter than the room as the walk of Shadows moved in through the door.

Not knowing what he was thinking, Derek was the one to fully march in with the others hanging back. Even though compared to the guardians Derek came up only just to the edge between their underbelly and side (thus how Leo did what he did 30 chapters ago) he still felt like a large presents to everyone.

"Ah, Derek! It's good to see you up and about again." The lightning guardian stated. "How had your research been?"

"Slow as hell freezing over. With everything that I've gone through what's _new_ to us is just a fraction of what we already know."

This was a bit of a surprise to the 3. Sure they, though most likely Volteer, has read a good bit now the topics the human was looking for; the history about Malefor, the dark magics of the world, etc. that was in the scrolls and books collected over time.

Volteer stepped forward but with a hint of actually shaking, "You… are you currently you went through _everything_ to the details?"

"Please…" Leo rolled his eyes, "Usually I'm the one to do it. But when he gets into it, he _gets into it_."

"Which leads me to why I'm here."

He stepped forward; approaching one of the cushion seats that was roughly 7 feet tall compared to him. It was a awkward moment for him to try to pull himself up, having to dig his boots in the fabric to pull himself over the edge, and stand back up. He was now roughly eye level with the middle ground of the table but it was a bit better than the ground.

"I have a idea. And it involves the thing called the Pool of Visions."

It was if someone had just slapped a freshly caught yet rioting cod upside their faces did their expressions tell him and the others that they were surprised to hear someone utter those words. Cyril even glanced back to Spyro in the group for a explanation. Only getting the basis of a shrug before the guardian returned his attention to the previous person of interest.

"How do you know about that?" Volteer hastily asked.

"A… reliable source. Some of your books even tell about it a little."

"And how is that possible?" He cocked a brow, "Every book and scroll, quite literally anything written about it is in our personal keep. I know full and well even you are incapable of find it, so you got it from some other _reliable source,_ eh?" Derek raised a finger to counter this. Mouth open to voice his statement. But no sound of sorts came out as he looked off trying to think of something.

"Derek." he looked back to see his scientist staring up at him with his arms crossed giving him the 'you're failing, just stop now' look. "Let's face it, it's just that obvious that we can't avoid mentioning him."

Wanting to protest that it wasn't because of that, going out and saying you've had periodic visits from said mystical dragon sitting in another dimension to those who would just go head over heels to meet, it just won't sit right with their minds. Hell, some of the things they've already said about the Chronicler was when they as a group met him. Derek knew a bit more than they did when it came to what the two dragons was remotely scheming.

"Fine… The Chronicle has been relaying me information." This seemed to snap the looks off their faces, "I've literally been awake in two different capacities with my mental side being helped by him to figure out a way to stop this problem sooner. And one idea he mentioned was the Pool."

The 3 seemed baffled for a moment. "He was speaking to you?" Volteer asked.

"Yes. He said that due to my 'condition' and recent possession he thinks there might, _might,_ be a small chance of there being a brief mental connection that I, or in retrospect, the _other guy,_ can maybe few a lingering memory or two from Malefor. Since he seemed so open to trying to take over me the demon was bound to do some kind of damage to break or crack his barrier."

When he said that for a second time now he finally realized what he said. In truth now he knew what they said it was a terrible, well not _completely_ terrible, idea to go on with little info to back it up. But frankly he was up for it. He knew Leo and Jack were in it for some of the data or breakthrough they might discover, the others minus Rachel probably couldn't care, Rachel herself would hog tie him to the car and haul him away, and the two dragons mostly think it's a bad idea involving it with the mind of their mortal enemy.

The two guardians both looked to their leader for a answer. A stoic expression was locked on the earth dragon's face when within just a minute, staring down at the human right into the eye, a low groan bellowed from his throat.

"Follow me. And stay close."

* * *

"Here we are." Terrador pushed opened a large set of stone doors out of his way. The long dormant structure groaning as the weight shifted on its rusted hinges sprinkling dust, rust and grinding stone onto the floor.

Entering the chamber, that was much more like a small hall, the view was honestly beautiful to the humans: The whole room was lit in majestic emerald glow mix with patches of goldish-yellow coming from the various plant life that had managed to grow in such a closed off place. Most of the floor, walls, and supports all showing signs of the world slowly reclaiming the room but not enough as to allow a broken pathway to lead from the door to a raised platform near the back of the room. It wasn't as big as the team had expected; relatively it was only waist high with a wall roughly 2 feet thick making a 14 foot wide puddle. The 'puddle' itself was a dark turquoise with stronger patches of greens mixed in as it swirled slowly around. The ceiling above it even glowing from it's light like staring up into the eye of a blue vortex.

"* _whistle*_ Damn this places looks nice." Rachel spoke. Earning several nods of approval from the others.

Though before they could advance, Terrador stepped forward using his body as a barrier, "Before you enter, you are not to tell _anyone_ of this place. Got it?"

"Crystal." Terrador didn't buy it. He trusted the humans sure, they helped in many ways; but to suddenly want in a place very few should know about it even being _here_ was starting to put that idea to a test.

"* _sigh* Yes, we get it._ Now can we go on with the test?" the dragon thought for a moment then nodded and stepped aside. The eight proceeded forward, looking over every detail their eyes could pick up as the pool came closer.

The top of the pool was roughly 4 feet off the ground, giving most of them just enough space to see the other side. Once they got right up to it, having to even lean over the little slant the stone made, their faces were suddenly covered in the basking light. Seeing the detail of the substance they couldn't see their own reflections in the nearly bottomless pool but the glow made it feel as if something was just within reach.

"Wow." Jack reached down, gently placing his fingers in the liquid. It didn't feel wet, yet feel like a plasma other than water. The others did the same, feeling it's warmth just _absorbed_ into their bodies.

Instantly the scientific side of Wolfton sprouted again. Reaching down to his pockets to pull out another sample jar. Though as he reached over to just scoop it up with the jar he felt a light tap, not of a hand or finger, but of the pointy end of a claw, on his shoulder. Looking back he was a little startled at how close Volteer was.

"Don't bother with that. I've attempted to take samples myself for study but it's properties are… strange to say the least."

Jack frowned. Disappointed that he wouldn't be able to add to their collection. Pulling his hand away Derek started down at his fingers feeling for any wetness. But surprisingly it was like his skin was just in contact with warm metal. "So how does this work?"

"Fairly simple really. Just take a deep breath like you were about to dive underwater and focus on what memories you wish to see. The pool itself shall allow us to see what you saw." The lightning dragon answered. "Though far warning, if you latch onto them rather than let it play out, consequences are dire."

"Alright. Let's get to work than."

* * *

 ** _40 Minutes Later..._**

* * *

"This is still a terrible idea."

"We get it, Rachel. The dark forces are bad forces to be dancing with. And yet we do it all the-* _oof*-_ time. You done yet?" Derek was starting to get annoyed by Leo's efforts. Strapped to him with his shirt off was a set of sensors all hooked up to a antenna helmet, like the one in the 2016 movie, but with the components more streamlined and neatly placed. Leo wasn't worried about water proofing it; doing so would be a pain in itself since the amount of electronics on it would just be devastating. Since the pool wasn't any real 'liquid' that they would have to worry about it getting wet. Several wires leading down his back and around his torso connected to the various sensors.

"Almost…" the scientist side adjusting a screw. "With you we can't take any chances. One wrong step and the worse we'll have to worry about is either you going into full demon take over, disappearing, or Malefor suddenly invading again."

"Which is why this idea sucks." The voice from behind the scientist side with the tone of one having experience in the situation.

"And that, Spyro, is why this world is still behind on technology. If humans didn't have the curiosity we have, we wouldn't be here right now. Hell you probably won't be here either with us not arriving." The dragon grumbled, though Leo still did a glance over to the purple and gold reptile. "We all set over there?"

Jack held a thumbs up as he typed on the laptop he had propped on top of a cart. It had several things they needed for this; the computer, a single disruptor if needed to enclose the area, a pke and giga meter, 2 sabar traps hooked up to foot pedals, and the Slime Gun just incase. It wasn't as much as they wanted, or had really to work with this kind of situation, so they opted to keep Mike and Roger in their packs if it _does_ get that serious.

"We're good. All sensors are on and vitals are clear."

With a nod Leo stepped away from his friend. Both sharing a glance as they nodded. Just then Rachel strolled up; not saying a single word but to lean up and place a quick kiss on the cheek. It brought a smile to his lips but they didn't say anything as she walked back to join the others. They were mostly get up to his left as to be able to see the pool, minus Jack sitting back with the traps. The dragons with Terrador being the block between him, the Legends and his brothers looked down to him.

"Remember, clear your mind and let the memory play out. If you try to latch onto it too much it can cause… problems."

"Thanks Terrador, that helps put me at ease _so_ much more."

Stepping onto a small stool they borrowed so that he didn't accidentally fall all the way in, he stared down at the swirling mass for a moment. Clearing his head as told to focus on what he wanted to remember. There was at least 2 that he vaguely thought about. And he figured the more recent should be first.

Quickly taking in deep breaths,he inhaled deeply as if about to swim and launched forward. Holding onto the edge of the pool as his head/helmet disappeared into the liquid up to his shoulders. Immediately the pool started to react; the bluish glow quickly intensifying as the edges began to bubble as if boiling. The swirling motion growing as it became more solid than its previous state.

It began taking on a darker color, almost solid black until the glowing aura of the moons appeared.

 _Derek glanced over to the moons, he even chuckled, it was a hard sight to see when in a city. Being all quiet he could actually hear his boots shuffle in and out of the dirt from each step. Even lightly kicking a pebble in the shrubs was a calming sound._

 _That was until the sound of the ting rock hitting off if something made the whole plant shake and rustle._

 _Stopping in his tracks he glanced over at the bushes from where the movement had come from. "Hello?" he slapped his hand over his mouth. Repeatedly telling how stupid he was of possibly drawing something to him._

 _There was another rustle, whipping in its direction he shined the flashlight in its general direction. Then it came from his right, and he snapped to it. Then back to his far left; it was like it was trying to circle him but each time he heard he he knew which direction it was coming from directly. Reaching over he pulled his rifle off its clip, holding it out as he activated the gun. The sound of the miniaturized particle accelerator was a welcomed sign as he slowly progressed forward. Keeping the light on the bushline as he crossed the pathway. Shining it through what patches were available, he saw nothing was there. The rustling happened again, further ahead of this time. Only it seemed like whatever was casing it was trying to run away._

 _Ignoring the rule about going solo, Derek pushes through the thick bushes as he followed the sound. It was harder to see in the trees as the moonlight could break their tops. He didn't have his goggles, and the flashlight was limited on where you point it as trees would block its beam from reaching far. He quickened his pace, determined to find out what the source was. Weaving around debris that had collected over time on the forest floor his pace was quickly decreased when a small clearing came into view. It was probably no larger than the footprint of a normal house; a large patch of grass mixed with some fallen trees and a few saplings still growing. Walking just out of the edge of the tree line his light panned over the area. A slight breeze could be felt blowing through his messy hair as now everything started to rustle and creak. The sky was showing signs of even a potential storm on the way._

 _But whatever was out there, Derek knew it wouldn't just run away because of a little rain. "I know you're out there. SHOW YOURSELF!"_

 _His voice was on the edge of taking on a dark tone. It wasn't like his 'Commander Tone' he would use to take charge or try not to show fear. The brush line that encircled the clearing rustled once more, spin around Derek could see something bleeding its way out of the trees. Stepping back further into the clearing with both light and gun raised up to met the direction the source was coming from._

 _The entity in front of him slowly materialized in the light as Derek held his gun close. The outline of a dragon was clear, it was bigger than the legendaries, but way smaller than the guardians. If anything it was maybe 2 feet taller than him. Large horns, tethered wings, and those yellow eyes were enough for Derek to take a step back and tighten his grip._

 _"Malefor."  
_  
 _"_ _ **Human**_ _." Malefor's voice spoke as if a cold wind._

It took them a moment to hear it, but when they did, they all turned to the source.

Upon seeing the memory suddenly have a scaled down version of their number 1 enemy literally be within range of their camp, the Legends both let out a throaty growl that surprised the humans a bit.

 _Derek didn't dare move, he knew it would be impossible for him to fight alone. His rifle was too weak for direct attacks but could cause some kind of a distraction so that he could run, but with the night and shadow dragon before him. Even his purple scaled body, which Derek assumed was more like a manifestation other than the dark lord himself. He waited for the moment something would happen; a swarm of ghosts surrounding him, a monster erupting from the ground or even Malefor trying to latch onto his body again by leaping at him._

 _Only after what seemed to be the right time to do so going by, Derek focused back to the present._

 _"_ _ **Don't worry, human. Anything you think is a threat are not near. Well, Except me.**_ _"_

 _"My name is Derek." he sternly said. Being called simply human was saying he had no identity. "And you better have a good reason why you decided to grow a pair of balls to come here." To drive this point home he flipped the handle forward. If he had been firing the capture stream it would've, if possible at all with this manifestation, locked on._

 _Seeing this action, Malefor let out a chuckle. "_ _ **Do you really think that little item can stop me? Being that it took eight of you to have even a remote amount of magic to bring me down was all I need to know where limits are set.**_ _"_

 _"It's not magic. It's science. Something your world heavily lacks a understanding of."_

 _"_ _ **Ah, yes. I remember that my previous teachers would go into what was at the time very little understanding.**_ _" Moving to the side he began walking around Derek. Turning his body with the dragon to keep his aim and eye fully on him._ _ **"They talked about the theories of worlds far outside the realms. Things that then and today's world could barely comprehend as they lacked anything to accomplish it**_ _._ _ **But you have made it into a way no one has ever seen. Energy capable of destroying darkness, items that could hold armies at the simply press of a button, a substance that can revert those affected by its controlling form. And even the capability to hold hundreds to thousands of my new and old minions and use them as a power source. It is all quite… fascinating. So how did you come with such a thing?**_ _"_

 _Derek arched a brow; this wasn't the dragon he was expecting to come face to face again. He couldn't tell if Malefor was trying to have a civil conversation or deceive him in telling him how the equipment worked. If he was able to figure it out then he could possibly find a way to counter or become immune to it. It would be the end of their mission if they could deal any damage._

 _Lowering his thrower just a bit as he held the light in a more relaxed manner. But his guard remained high._

 _"And pray tell, why would you want to know?"_

 _Malefor stopped and looked directly into Derek's eyes. The yellow masses trying to pierce his brown shields that divided his reality to the soul. Seeing him fight back without really trying, knowing what actually was, Malefor chuckled. "_ _ **I like to know my enemy. So that I may prepare for the next time we meet. Just like you.**_ _"_

This was the first time the group as a whole reberulated a collective spin tingling chill.

 _"How could you know anything about me? Up until a few days ago you didn't know we existed and thought Spyro got some weird new powers that can easily fight back your new minions."_

 _"_ _ **Ah yes. The purple welp**_ _." the dark lord rolled his tongue with the name. "_ _ **I knew he would be a threat to my return. He always was even when he was just a egg. That's why I sent so many creatures at him and his newly adopted sister Cynder. But from what I've gathered, you know that I can not fully exist without a proper form.**_ _"_

 _Derek nodded, bringing the theory they made about this situation back into the spotlight, "_ _ **If I had their bodies, combined them into a single form, I could retain a forms stronger than my original. That is-**_ _"_

 _"-until you tried to attack me in my sleep."_

 _"_ _ **Indeed. It was to take you to my realm so that I could lead your friends into looking for you while I moved forward. But when I entered your mind.**_ _" He paused for a moment. Inhaling a deep breath and sighing as one would when doing something satisfying. "_ _ **So much raw power contained in a tiny form. Locked away as it merely awaits its time to break out. If only you were a dragon years ago. You would of made the perfect apprentice. More powerful than what levels Cynder could never reach.**_ _"_

 _"Yeah well, sorry to burst your bubble but that didn't happen."_

 _"_ _ **Not yet it hasn't.**_ _" he stopped in his walk and turned completely towards him. Stepping closer as the grin on his muzzle was enough to make Derek instinctively do a step back. "_ _ **I've seen but a glimpse of what power you have inside your body. A force that even I deem worthy to lead armies, worlds. To rule...**_ _"_

 _"... What's your point?"_

 _"_ _ **Isn't it clear my friend? I want you to join me. I can teach you how to unlock and control this power. Use it to its fullest and control everything. Never will you have to worry about your friends and loved ones being in danger, as you would have the power to protect them. Even return to your world and guide them down the right path."**_

 _Derek could feel his inner demon thinking. For the few times they've directly talked to each other it was mostly a exchange in information. Derek could act, but this was to the Demon directly. He could feel it thinking over pros and cons, see it playing two different scenarios out, and shook its head mentally._

 _"Sorry, but I think I'll wait till when armageddon happens before I'll take up your offer." Gripping his rifle he grabbed both handles with white knuckles and readied to fire._

 _"_ _ **Very well then**_ _." Malefor only said as his form collapsed into a cloud of shadows. The mass shrunk down at least a quarter of its size as it whipped back into the trees. Derek did not dare go after him. Having a rock in the bottom of his gut tell him it was just the ghost taunting him to fall into a trap._

 _ ***CRACK***_

 _Nearly jumping out of his boots he looked up to the source of the flash. The wind had quickly begun to pick up as the moon light faded behind lines of storm clouds rapidly expanding across the sky. He didn't know why, only that his body reacted before his mind did; spinning on his heels he turns completely running back to the path. Not caring what was in front of him he aims the rifle and fires; the stream quickly did easy work to the shrub in his path as in a downward slash he cuts a hole in the forest to the pathway. Feeling the first misty drops of what he could tell was a downpour ready to go he booked it back to camp._

 _Venting the cores he takes aim back at the sky; slowing his pace down to a steady walk as he fired two boson darts into the sky. He knew there was a small chance of anyone at camp seeing it, but he could only hope they get the warning as he broke back into a sprint._

Steadily the memory started phasing out. The swirling and bubbling of the pool began to slow down as it soon displayed a more dark blue canva awaiting its next vision.

"Well that didn't provide much aid." Terrador bluntly stated.

"Agreed." Leo voiced.

"DIDN'T PROVIDE MUCH?!" Rachel blared. Startling even some of them. "That _son of a bitch_ wannabe 'dark master' is literally after him. We don't know _WHAT_ can happen if he got his hands on him. God forbid that if he did manage to help him _control_ his powers who knows what damage could be done."

"A lot worse than you think." Cynder piped in with a shallow voice. "My dark side alone devastating. What he did to me was merly force that power into me to give him a unstoppable killing machine. I was possessed by his power. But if what you saw, and what we've all seen so far, I agree with you Rachel. We do need to keep him at a distance when it comes to Malefor."

The medic smirked and nodded a thank you to the dragon. Though it was something in the other's eyes that caught the other's attention. Rachel developed a more blank expression while the dragoness had her eyes just briefly narrow. Though they soon quickly began to lose interest, despite receiving a few snorts from the dragons and sighs from the humans, the next memory started forming.

 _This time inside the temple as the massive walls and decor came to via. He was standing in a random hallway in the building, one that they recognized as the same one that led to Derek and Rachel's room. One glance down had soon him dressed in a much heavier set up with his chest puffed out from extra padding and his waist covered in much more gear than he would. But that wasn't the only thing they noticed, the whole area had a or orangish hue to it as it he was surrounded by fire._

"What memory is this?" Mike asked eying the place that didn't look right.

"I… don't know." Leo answered, turning to Terrador for a little hope of a answer, "Do you know anything about that?"

The dragon shook his head, "There was nothing that we knew of happening there that could generate that glow."

 _The vision shifted, it became more blurry as Derek was seen swiftly moving down the halls in impossible speeds making sharp corners. Soon coming up to the main hallway that was just as desolate as the building_ ; it was completely full if debris with all the other doors all blocked or the halls caved in.

 _The only one left was the main door that lead outside. Taking in a deep breath Derek slowly walks over to the massive door. When he walked up to the seem that was made between the two doors, Derek could feel the air seem through it. A heavy coldness that at the same time felt like it could burn your lungs to a crisp. Lifting his hands up he firmly pushes down near the center. Having very little resistance he shoves both open with a strong thrust. Instantly the light changed to what was coming from outside. There was barely any sunlight coming from the dark skies that screamed fire. Like a thick fog rolling across the world. A glance around the world told both Derek and the group why it was such._

 _The city was, for the most part, gone. Fields of rumble everywhere the eye looked was poles of stone, wood, spits of fire and everything else from the front door to what remained of the tree line. All the walls that divided the city up were just about nonexistent with just a few slabs still standing with buildings just piles of rocks._

 _"What the hell happened to this place?" Derek muttered under his breath as he looked out past the main wall that protected the city from anything outside. Expect there wasn't a wall, or even a thick green forest that spanned all the way to the mountains. It was a lot more like the game Fallout, every direction he was met with a complete waste land._

The sight was a bit disturbing to witness for them all.

"How… how the hell is **this** a _memory?!_ " Roger shouted what was on their minds.

No one responded. Only watching was their focus. The landscape, if this was a memory was starting to make them feel it was crawling under their skin/scales.

 _"DEREK!"_ Both he and they jolted around at the sound of Rachel's voice. Everyone instinctively looking over to the medic wondering why she yelled. But when met with her eyes told them _she_ wasn't the one to speak.

 _"Rachel?" When Derek turned around, what he saw was unbelievable. He looked like he was standing just at the base of a massive volcano that's erupting in a tower of purple and black slime that screamed down the hill side._

 _But what made him was what he saw in front of him. A giant wave of fire, like a tsunami roared over the mountain side vaporizing anything, or what was left of anything, that was in its path. And running straight at him in front of the wave was Rachel and the others. They were bloody messes with their suits just barely holding to their body and their gear just flopping on broken straps and belts. They were all running towards Derek as fast as possible as the wave over took the mountain._

 _Derek couldn't look any more, instinct taking over as he ran out. Passing the city remains in almost instantaneous speed with his arm stretching as far as he could to even touch someone as the gap seemed to close. Rachel was the closest, the pure look of fear on her face made Derek try to just stop time to reach her. To reach everyone and save them._

 _He could see her hand just graze his own, but he didn't feel it come into his. The wall of fire engulfed all of them. Towering flames raced over the street, first Leo, then Danny, Jack, Ben, Roger and finally Rachel. Their bodies one by one exploded in a cloud of ash. It all rushed right into Derek's face, he could feel it pinch away at his skin as he closed his eyes as tightly as the fire washed over him. Through his hands the flames encircled him like a vortex trying to rip them from him to see the destruction around. It was becoming too much, the light growing as it was evident that Derek even collapsed to a knee. But once his body started falling down, it kept going. Within seconds his hands were ripped away flashing the bright orange flames pushing back around. His eye sight soon becoming dark once the ground was his focus._

So one said anything now. The silence was only split due to the computer humming, the pool bubbling, and the sound of the intake of air from only 5 of the 13 beings present. For a moment, the dragons all were pretty sure the humans were just a twitch away from fainting from having their brains go into unbelievable shock. Sure they've been in deadly situations before. It was nothing new. Each year it seemed to only grow in the number of things that try to kill them but they always survive. They've seen it, felt it, and dreamt it, but to see their leader have such a situation in his head, memory or dream or not, was very unsettling.

Derek's reaction, to seeing all of them literally running from death by fire, just to witness each and every one of them just poof into dust with the rest of the world was a breath taker. He tried; dream physics applied, he looked like he was the Flash in slow motion with them moving normally. They knew that he would have nightmares at times, they all did, but because of his situation they were always different. Every dream can be blunt or so detailed it can be more than realistic. Seeing Warfang in ruin, not a single body or soul in sight, his reaction, Malefor Mountain closer than it should exploding like the active volcano it once was.

They knew Icarea can, and has sent them both hints and direct notifications through Derek in several ways, they were hoping _this_ didn't apply to one.

"Jack."Rachel called with very little emotion in the word, "Is this… a dream or… the demon at work?"

"No, current readings so activity is normal-wait." His pause made everyone look back at him. All expressing the looks of wanting him to just spit it out. The technician leaned closer to his monitor; quickly wiping his eyes as if he thought something didn't look right. Then he leaned back, the face of a more realized man taking place.

"Pke levels are rising. Activity is dropping."

"Icarea…" Leo breathed out the word loud enough for them to all hear. "He's taking control now."

This brought a bit more than alarm to the dragons. Two of them, well, technically one, knew first hand what the effects of Derek being possesed could be. And she will not tolerate just standing there watching as it happened. Jumping from her spot, the black dragoness dashed behind the guardians towards the team.

"Cynder? What the heck are you doing?" He called out. Quickly following her.

Thought it wasn't that much of a challenge when she came up right behind Derek grabbing him by both the cords and belt. This immediately made the team spring into action. Leo, Rachel and Roger all jumping on to keep her away and Derek in the pool.

"Cynder! What the hell are you doing?!" Rachel shouted as she tried to pull the dragon off. Compared to her Cynder was heavy, being in the sense that despite only reaching her stomach, and that being she was the smallest out of the whole group, the dragon was still double to possibly triple her mass. But from the years of moving both equipment and bodies, the built up muscle came into use. She had hooked around both her arms that were latched on to her boyfriend with her right arm going across to force down Cynder's right and grab her left that was holding the cables. The other one snaking around to her chest as she heaved backwards.

"WE GOTTA GET HIM OUT!" The dragon yelled. Squirming a little to get of the human's grip and accomplish her goal.

When she went to tug on the cab leading from the helmet to the computer, Leo quickly grabbed the plug to prevent it from pulling out and cutting the connection. "Cynder, it's alright. This happens a lot."

This made her pause. "What?"

"Derek has full body and mostly mental control of his form. That's why he's still _him_. But if he lets it happen, the demon can gain more mental control for a time that they come to a agreement. It's why he can heal so fast, move like he does and know so much. It's how we were able to discover the Icarea Mandala in the first place. If he gives a little it doesn't affect him. It when it gains too much is when we have to worry."

"Guys." Spyro called over. Looking back over the pool to see it rebubbling again. "There's something forming."

Sure enough the purple dragon was right. The swirl re-intensified and started forming what was to be shown.

Dirt.

Just _dirt._

 _Derek slowly began to rise again. His vision fuzzy from the ordeal as he brought one leg up to support himself. Shaking his head with a hand holding as he stood back up. The landscape had changed, the once desolate sight was now more restored in the sense that the vast forest was present but the city was still in ruin. The buildings and debris smoldering as the wave of fire had been extinguished. But he didn't pay attention to that, his focus was back to the mountain where the it seemed further away than it was. The smoke billowing out from several openings on the hillside with the main vent unleashing a deep purple fog that rose into the atmosphere._

 _He let out a sharp exhale, almost like a snort, as he looked down at his hands. Looking at his jumpsuit that was now all black like his GB2 one. But the color was more reversed to having a almost reddish tint to it. Flexing his hands, as if checking them to see if they just got them. He reached down to his belt, his hands both grabbing something near his hips. A sharp jolt suddenly sounded as Derek physically reacted to the change. Looking to the sky just to the top of the trees, he started forward. His legs going as fast as the weight of his gear will let him go. On a rock jetting from the soil, he leaped up onto it with his left and jumped as high as he could. A flash of orange and blue suddenly burst from behind as he was launched higher than his jump or him even using a boson dart to launch, the top of the trees soon becoming the new ground below him as he climbed in altitude._

"Wait a second, how the heck is he flying?!"

It took them a second to see it, but whenever Derek looked to the sides for just a minute they could see what was the cause of the situation. For whenever he looked either right or left they saw the form of a long beam with a patch of caution stripping that ended with a small forward facing cylinder with two glowing red openings. Even though the place didn't help on the sound they could vaguely hear the hum of jets.

"His mind must of conjured up the X-Pack as a way to travel. Wouldn't be surprised." Leo said trying to take note of the surrounds again.

"X-Pack?" Volteer questioned this time.

"It was a custom upgrade I made for Derek's proton pack that allowed him to fly. It simply used the pack itself for power and held retractable wings he could control. Though the thrusters used to propel him would burn up after one use he used it pretty well for gliding."

"Then why does he not have it now?" Volteer asked, now a bit curious as to how a human would fly by them self, "And why not all of you? Surely being airborne would provide significant benefits when in battle."

"It took me almost a _year_ after the Shandor Incident to build it. It adds another hundred pounds to the pack since it goes between you and the parent pack as the motherboard. Takes up serious amounts of power, you can barely hold a gun when flying, no hover, and a whole sort of things. Plus Derek's was heavily damaged during Infestation; when we were escaping the hell dimension he used the thrusters for the first and only time burning out his pack's power supply and effectively firing the circuits in the upgrade. We were lucky it didn't outright blow up like most things would when he landed on the Hudson River."

With his attention now fully back to the pool, no one added on from the conversation. Though now that they heard what Leo said and were seeing it would be interesting to see it first hand.

Hell, Spyro was already thinking about it more deeply than he should be. The competitive side of him springing up a moment on thinking on who would win in a race between him and the leader with those wings. Maybe Derek would have the advantage; Cynder was technically faster than him but she was more streamlined and built for speed compared to his bulkier form. The vision clearly showed the pack being able to just _zoom_ passed things in a blur so he had the speed on his side. But Leo said he used it mostly for gliding, so unless there was a perfect wing he would win with just a few extra wing beets.

Though from how fast he was traveling it was a debatable topic. _Derek, or whoever was now in control with them just seeing the vision in their point of view, was proving them all wrong on how fast he could fly. The forest, for the most part a dull gray with only pockets of green was nothing more than splotches on the land. He past a large river overflowing its banks to make it easily double its size. And another pillar of smoke rising to the sky._

 _It was evident what place it was. The once large fortress that sat at the center of the city, now a smoldering wreck, was what was the only thing recognizable to the city of Crystalline. But that was all they saw before the vision flew past the very battlefield they were at just weeks ago. He only just started slowing down when he climbed upwards of the mountain when in a blast of smoke he dived down into a vent. The way the rock was so heavily glassed over had meant that the volcano was in full force spewing up molten rock. The complex tunnel that both parties watched was shocked at how well Derek, or as they had thought, Icarea, navigated through; quickly closing and reopening the wings and changing his angle of direction on a dime. Within moments he had arrived to the center of the volcano, the same chamber that he and his team had first went up against Malefor, but now the entire bottom half was filled to the brim by not lava, but of something else._

"Slava. Never thought I would see that again."

"Okay Leo, now you're starting to annoy us."

"Sorry, Spyro."

 _One glance to the roof of the chamber had confirmed that this was the source of the strange purple fog was bellowing from. He paused only for a moment near the middle of the massive tube, hovering for a second in the thick of the fog as the jets powered down just slightly. In the brief moment his body fell forward. Aiming at the lava Derek dived straight down. Engaging his jets again to full power. The heat of presence of the lava did little to deter him; only when he did break through the surface did he feel resistance. His vision became comparable to that of when you drive through a heavy blizzard and the snow just spaces out around you from your windshield. Only without the gap, Derek was getting the full brunt of it. He jolted every second of it, only feeling it try to slow him down, to consume him, but he didn't stop. He was determined to get through it, to get to the literal bottom of it. But what he seemed and failed to notice was that his vision was already giving; black lines steadily began to cross his vision like water streaking down glass. Forming a ring around each eye as it criss crossed with tenders that each surged with just a glimpse of purple._

This was bringing a wave of concern to the groups. They didn't like the way this was turning to

"What's happening to him?" Spyro asked, not liking the lines appearing within the vision's sight.

"PKE LEVELS RISING!" Jack shouted startling everyone. He had been watching as the screen flashed a dozen warnings from the sensors hooked up to this leader that he was pretty sure shouldn't be possible.

"PULL HIM OUT _NOW!_ "

Dashing over like lightning Mike and Leo quickly ran over to both Derek's sides; both reaching over and quickly latching onto his torso and shoulders to almost bodily throw him out. Leo quickly reached up ripping the main connector out of the port. The action working as evident from the loss of the slight hum it made and quickly unbuckled and yanked the helmet off. The pool even shimmering as it lost its only connection. Slowly it began to slow its spiral down and cease bubbling as it returned to normal.

The second the helmet left Derek's head his eyes sprung open like gunshots going off, " _GAH-HAH!"_ He bolted straight up. Taking in deep breaths as he tried to get his bearings back. Running over Rachel kneeled by him; making him spin around to face her as she held him by his cheeks.

"Derek, Derek, it's alright. You're good now." she said as to get him to focus on her. Slowly the 25 year old drew in more controlled breaths as his body became relaxed.

With a deep sigh he brought a hand up, running it from his forehead over his hair, "Well... that could of gone better."

"Better?" Terrador blurted catching his attention ,"From what we saw you were on the verge of something worse. From how you started we thought you've done this before."

"Ehh…" All eyes went to Jack, "We… haven't _really_ been able to _succeed_ in this kind of test before. We started it after Derek's possession but had very little success in development. We tried a chimp once, it failed. We had our friend Izzie hooked up to a prototype emitter to see if by going directly to the source it would work, it blew up. We tried a normal ghost once, fairly weak one too, it failed, then blew up."

" _Thank God for 6 foot thick concrete walls…"_ Leo murmured.

"My guess is that whatever the pool does or is made from was capable of giving us the push we needed to successfully connect. Though to be blunt I didn't think the odds were in our favor."

"What odds?"

"Oh…" he looked around thinking of the numbers, "Out of the 58 outcomes that came with this we would of survived 3 of them. Though the worst case probably would of been"

"Hold on, backup." Spyro stopped him, trying to keep up with everything, "Are you saying that thing could of blown us up at anytime…. Why does this remind me of that time back in the mountain…?" He brought a claw up to his in frustration. "Okay so now that we got a little insight on what's expected, where does that leave us?"

Peeling the rest of the sensors off Derek answered, "I need to get back in there."

"Absolutely NOT." Rachel sternly said. "You were going boarder lining possessed again. And quite frankly that memory you had of us was a bit concerning."

It took him a moment to think about what she was implying. Though in a moment he did remember. "It wasn't a memory. It was a vision the Chronicler suddenly gave me the night after the Slor incident."

Leo, how was checking the helmet for any damage, paused his search, "Why the hell would he give you a vision like _that_? What, are we all gonna end up dying like that."

Leo once again was hit by a familiar wave of regret in saying what was said. He just wanted to bash the helmet into his head to try and wake himself up from this dream. But the words did hit home. Every human stood there suddenly in a trance; to see one's death in the memories of someone they know to just be shown to them, it was a hard pill to swallow.

Derek then tried to steer the topic away from that thought. "I... don't know. But I do know this; that second half of that vision wasn't something I remember. Icarea was driving it. Which means that the whole connection worked."

"So how does that help us?" Danny asked. "All we saw was you flying into the heart of a volcano."

"And yet it wasn't lava."

"Slava." Derek sent a nod to Leo.

"Which means Malefor mountain is still a massive hotspot. If it moves closer I doubt that. But there is still a place holding a large build up of energy. I think before you guys pulled the plug he was trying to get me to the source."

"Derek," Jack walked up holding the computer in one hand. "If we didn't at the time we did, you would of been back to the same state you were in Crystalline or worse. I _highly_ recommend we don't try that again." He turned the laptop around to show him the readings. It wasn't a second thought before he made a grim expression from what the numbers said.

"Than if that's the case." He stood up. Wobbling a little from the head rush he was receiving. "Then it's best that we sit tight and wait it out. We set up defenses that can possibly counter against any more threats, we prepare ourselves for swift action and be ready to mobilize. Cause at this moment, it's quite literally the calm before the storm."

* * *

 ** **This was typed faster than it should of. So I guess it was a bubble waiting to be popped. Weird thing though, the date I set Infestation to roughly begin was July 6th to fully hit on August 9th of this year. So if anything strange in the world happens, especially in New York, don't blame me.****

 **The trope with the Pool of Visions was actually a redone idea I had for this story. Originally a 3 part chapter called Break My Mind when Derek falls into a coma and the group had to pull him out of it before Malefor could try to gain control again (Icarea is a pretty powerful entity). However after I redid my chapter list to bring it down from 90 I cut it but wanted some kind of link to it. I had then remembered the volcano dream from several chapters ago and how some of them were able to enter his mind when the first possession was attempted. I can't find much on how the Pool of Visions really work so I went on the basis most LoS fics use that it can replay a person's memories plus my own spin to it.**

 **The Slime Gun and Mini Slime Blower are two different weapons. The Slime Gun is more arm mounted like the Tainted Love Mini Pack as the Mini is the same seen in the comics.**

 **This chapter actually had the whole Pool scene redone when my last idea didn't really operate right. So I went on a more 'basis' path that involved Derek having his actual memories shown. With the first two been edits of scenes from previous chapters and Derek's 'vision' being both continued on passed the original and having Icarea be more present in what his powers can do.**

 **I've been working on this chapter the most compared to my other two stories mostly because of this one plot point.**


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